


Alone

by pahahnope



Series: Zoey Daniels. [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Endgame is depressing, Endgame never happened, Gen, Lets forget about endgame, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Tony Stark Needs a Hug, i don’t know how to tag, this is probably going to be depressing, tony stark is a dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-03-17 11:22:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 40
Words: 44,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18964255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pahahnope/pseuds/pahahnope
Summary: Zoey Daniels meant to phone her grandma, in a state of hysteria, when a middle aged man who claims to be Tony Stark picks up she laughs.And how Zoey Daniels become reliant on the man.OrHow Tony Stark cannot drop the guilt of what happened. And how he becomes reliant on knowing that Zoey Daniels is safe.





	1. The Call

**Author's Note:**

> 1st chapter set after Iron Man 2 (2010). Peter Parker is in this fic don’t lose hope, I just really value getting characters right before throwing them all in.
> 
> If you don’t give a shit about character development and just want the part when Peter is included skip to chapter 22, I will recap the whole book in the summary. But if you want to read the whole thing please do as it took a lot of time. Xx

It was an average day for Tony Stark. He was trying to compensate for all of the trouble that the strange cable dude caused him, proving difficult he eventually found himself in the lab fixing a perfectly functioning suit. He did this to hide from his problems, fix something that didn’t need fixing; it helped the man feel in control of his life which he ironically had no control over. 

 

Tony didn’t realise the desperate ringing of his phone, or the AI which was alerting him: his music blocked them out. It was only when the AI stopped the music turned its own volume up to make the idea of shouting and said “you have an incoming call. Unknown number.” Tony knew this was bad. He rarely got unknown numbers calling his phone, but whenever he did he always answered he didn’t know why but he always did. The first noise that he heard shook him to his core and he would remember it for the rest of his life. 

 

The scream deafened his ears and the sobbing stabbed his heart. “Hello?” His voice sounded like the calm to a storm on the other side of the phone, the sobbing didn’t stop however. “P-please pick me up.” The voice sounded like a girl no older than ten, she sounded weak and lost. “Who is this?” 

 

“It’s me. Zoey. You know. Oh shoot I forgot. Don’t worry grandma, I’ll phone um- I’ll find someone.” Tony could sense that the kid on the other side of the phone was desperate but soon to hang up. “I’m not your grandma.” Tony said with no humour which was something he would have loved to use it was a missed opportunity but it wasn’t fitting to the moment. “But what happened?”

 

”w-who is t-this?” Why didn’t tony think of course the kid is going to be terrified she meant to call her grandma but some middle aged man picked up and now he’s making conversation. “Tony Stark.”

 

”funny.” 

 

“I’m being serious I-” he was interrupted by another scream which was followed by pleading and sobs. Tony was sat on the edge of his seat ready to go and find where this poor kid was and what was happening to her. “What was that?”

 

”please I don’t care who you are come and get me I can’t be here anymore. I don’t know where to go. I don’t know what to do. This blood on my hands is seeping into my skin.” The girl hung up. Tony suited up while JARVIS tracked the the kid, the worry in Tony’s mind was prominent. Why the hell did such an innocent sounding kid have blood on her hands? Was it some sort of metaphor? 

 

Oh how he wished it was.

 

Tony has seen some shit in his life but this made him nearly throw up in his mouth. He stumbled over to the scene, suit still on checking for any dangers that lurk in the shadows. There was a burnt car, bullets all over the floor, a knife, three bodies and in the middle a kid. “JARVIS do we have anything on this kid?” Tony tried to slow his walk as quick as possible knowing not to scare the terrified girl. “No she’s clear. She just went to this concert three years ago.” 

 

With it settled that the girl wasn’t a wanna be serial killer, Tony approached her. “Please don’t hurt me I didn’t do this I did nothing. Don’t hurt me please.” Tony opened the suit realising how daunting it must’ve been. “Hey it’s alright, I know you did nothing wrong. Do you want to get in the car?” Tony had Happy drive the car over in case the girl wanted to leave. She shook her head “do you have anywhere to go.” She only shrugged in reply.

 

“Shall we step away from the fire?” Any fatherly instincts he had now set in as he held a supporting arm out while kneeling down to be eye level. “Just don’t panic.” This made the kid look more worried that before as a dozen iron men suits put the fire out around them. “Look its all alright now.”

 

But it wasn’t not for little Zoey. This night changed her life forever. She just crumbled to the floor, she had managed to keep her composure for so so long; she just broke. “Come on.” Tony helped her up supporting her all the way to the car. But she refused to get in, Tony knew what happened it didn’t take a genius to figure it out. He just wanted to help the kid but now he didn’t even know how to cope. 

 

“Please get in the car, it’s dangerous around here, I don’t want you getting hurt. You’ve seen what can happen.” She scrambled into the car and when she got in, hid herself by squashing up to the door. She started breathing heavy then crying then breathing heavy again. “I...have...asthma.” Tony knew that this wasn’t asthma, he knew what was happening. He grabbed her hands that were tiny compared to his, “You haven’t even told me your name yet. What is it?” 

 

Through struggled breaths he heard “Zoey...Daniels.” The most ordinary name for a nine year old girl who was far from ordinary.


	2. New York

 The rickety bed and screams of children had become home for young Zoey for the best part of two years. Everyday was the same she’d wake up be alone maybe watch tv and then go to sleep. Even though she didn’t really sleep much anymore, her mind was plagued with nightmares every night. It was usually the same image, her parents in the front of the car and her brother next to her, the car then flipped and Zoey couldn’t do anything to save them. She usually woke up crying but no-one was there, nobody really cared.

The change from a full loving family to a quiet eerie orphanage should have been enough to break someone. But Zoey tried to keep her head up, knowing that if she was ever going to get out of this place she would have to be happy and friendly. But it was hard when everyone else was like her: lost and alone. She smiled a lot even though everyone saw through it she still found it her role to be a ray of sunshine beaming down on the dark depressing house.

She was still alone though. Everyone else didn’t talk either to upset or too angry so Zoey kept herself to herself for nearly two years. No-one knew her story. No-one knew that she was saved by Tony Stark. No-one knew how much she regretted saying that she was fine going to an orphanage. Because she wasn’t. She wasn’t fine.

Everyday she would stare at the TV which was majority of the time in the channel the owners would chose. By the end of the day Zoey could recite the news word for word. But today struck her by surprise, her home town surrounded by aliens and avengers? Not something she would have ever thought was true. She saw iron man and her heart sunk, if only she hadn’t been in such a state maybe he would’ve kept her.

Slowly people surrounded the TV as they watched these hero’s save their city. The camera slowly panned showing their building and a Chutari coming right for them. Everyone just screamed. Everyone but Zoey. She didn’t care much anymore, sure she acted happy but she wasn’t she knew she’d be stuck here for at least seven more years and she has barely survived two. Zoey kept watching the TV as everyone else ran out into the yard she saw Iron Man destroy it, she let out a breath. Inside she hoped that he would check just walk inside to make sure she is okay but he turned around without a glance.

But she would never know.

The year and a bit that had passed had been plagued with worry. He thought about Zoey most days hoping to god that she was okay, that he didn’t make a bad decision. But he had other stuff to think about, this whole avengers thing had blown his mind and even if he acted like everything was calm his mind was like a funfair of noise.

So when the Chutari enter New York he doesn’t think they will go as far as the orphanage. But as soon as he heard cap say “they’re heading for the orphanage.” He moved as fast as he could, he knew Zoey was there, and if she got hurt it would destroy him. It was selfish really. He only did it so he could feel like he didn’t ruin her life. He wanted to go in make sure she was okay but he couldn’t the city was getting destroyed, he had to help.

 

Zoey had no idea why she did it but when she had her mind set on something there was no stopping the kid. As she flung the door open there was no worry in her eyes or her heart. She wanted to help, which some people may have believed to be stupid - she was eleven after all. She ran straight to the centre of the madness. There was brave and there was suicide mission, for Zoey the latter fit her situation. Her small and skinny frame was out of place in the chaos of the city but she didn’t seem to care.

 

”Tony we have a kid who refuses to go home. Can you help?” Captain America was glaring at the young girl who was stood with her arms crossed looking at him like he was not a national treasure. “Why me? Just use your amazing assertiveness to get them home.” 

 

“She won’t listen to me! At all! One minute.” Steve glared once more at the kid as she went to fight a Chutari, he picked her up by her shoulders and put her behind him. “Kid you need to go home! You’re going to get yourself killed out here. Even I’m scared for my life, you’re how old are you? Eleven? Go home.”

 

”Tony! She won’t leave can’t you just fly her home or something. She’s scary.”   “Sorry What was that? You’re scared of a little girl. No I can’t just fly her home.” He hears a scream that unlocked a memory in his mind, a memory he would never want opened again. “What what that? What was that? Ask her what her name is.”

 

”I don’t know she just screamed out of the blue. Uh she said Zoey Daniels. She’s wasting time Tony we need to get her home or just leave her. I can’t do anything more here.” That name it was a familiar sound in his ears, sure he wanted to hear it again but not in this context. “I’ll be right there.”

 

When Tony got to where Zoey was supposed to be there was no kid stood there. “Rogers where the hell is she?” He became angry and worried, she could be anywhere in this mess of a city. Steve pointed to a building that only a few seconds later blew up both men looked over to each other and ran, well Tony flew. They looked for any survivors. They couldn’t find any.

 

But they also didn’t find any bodies. There was a small whimper from a corner of the building, they both looked to see around fifteen people fine with an area of clean, undamaged building around them and in the middle little Zoey. 

 

Zoey looked around this scene was too much like one that she tried to forget but remembered every night. Tony Stark was checking if she was okay but her mind too busy and worried about everyone else and the fire around them. “Look at me.” He snapped his fingers but she was looking to the right not completely able to focus. “Hey look at me! Zoey!” Her eyes slowly blinked shutting for a few seconds in between. Just as Tony thought she was going her eyes snapped open, “suit, get in, missile.” 

 

He didn't know why he followed a eleven year olds orders but it was something in her eyes that seemed like she knew something that he didn’t. As soon as he got in the suit he was alerted about a missile coming for the city, he glanced back and held a thumbs up to the girl who was now drifting in and out of consciousness yet again. He didn’t want to leave, but he had to he felt like he had no choice.

 

In the end most people were fine. And it wasn’t just because of the Avengers.


	3. Trouble

None of this made sense. How on earth could a kid survive a car crash that killed three people and come out of it with a few cuts. How could a kid survive a building being blown up while saving fifteen people in the process. How could a kid know that there was a missile coming without being able to see the sky. 

This ran through Tony’s head at least once a day, he made a pact to go and see the girl and ask her about it. But he was busy. Or was he scared? He didn’t know if he could see her again because she might hate him, for leaving her twice. She had no-one, she was alone. 

It took Zoey a while to recover from the incident at New York. She used all her strength and it drained her. But after a while she was in the same old rickety bed with the same crying children. She began to lose her patience, completely. Whenever some kid started crying she’d have to leave for she was too angry. She didn’t really know what happened but her emotions got majorly intensified, and this was not the place to get extreme emotions.

So now she usually found herself in a room by herself, worried that she might hurt someone. She would never want to hurt someone it just wasn’t in her nature, she had always been a kind and happy girl. But too much had happened in her short existence to stay that way, no matter how much she tried. 

The orphanage eventually let Zoey go to school. And she hated it. She didn’t hate the work, she enjoyed it, but the people oh god the people. She couldn’t stand the people. It’s like none of them wanted to be a kid, they all wanted to be adults. So they dressed and acted like they were adults, but they were all eleven to twelve. 

Zoey held herself together through the pushing and shoving of her peers. She shook it all off like it was nothing, like it was another normal day. She was called a know it all just because she was smart, she ended up doing nearly half the classes homework, just so they wouldn’t throw her lunch to the ground. It got to the point where she just ignored them and went through her day walking alone away from any trouble. 

But there was today and today was a day like no other. Zoey hadn’t slept a wink due to both doing all this work and the kids crying in the beds above and below her. She was tired and when she forgot to do someone’s work it all got out of hand. She couldn’t forget to do someone’s work who wasn’t so well scary, but she forgot to do the biggest twelve year old that she’d ever seen’s work. 

She just sat eating her lunch when she saw a crowd of people, she looked away hoping that they would turn around but that was stupid she was just fooling herself. The boy walked up to her and started shouting “why’ve you not done my work, eh? What’s your problem? You do everyone else’s work but not mine. Get up if you think you’re so brave.” 

She didn’t get up because she wasn’t brave she was just a broken little twelve year old. It wasn’t until he started shouting for her to get up continuously did she stand up from her seat. His tall and bulky stature shadowed over her tiny skinny frame. He didn’t hesitate in punching her, but Zoey wasn’t scared, she didn’t really care. He punched her and kicked her to the floor where her nose and lip bled. But she didn’t retaliate, she knew if she did the kid would be in hospital at the best. So she just took it, she took it when the other kids joined in, she just lay there like a punch bag. 

She found herself in the nurses room with an ice pack to her face, the nurse just shaking her head. The principal was talking to the boy, he was sure to get kicked out, because the reason he injured the girl was because she didn’t do his work that he should have done. But when he walked out with a smug look on his face Zoey knew that this was a different story. 

She opened the office door with her hand that was not bandaged up. “Zoey Daniels. You’ve been here for a year now, best student this school has ever seen but this, this is unacceptable.” Zoey looked at the man who looked disappointed in Zoey. She didn’t know what she did wrong, she didn’t understand. “Initiating a fight just because you were jealous? And about popularity? Oh dear Zoey you know being popular isn’t everything. Was it worth it?” Zoey couldn’t believe what she was hearing, she could feel her anger building up and due to it being intensified she wondered if she could calm herself down.

“Now I think the only think I will be able to do is let you go for several weeks. Just to settle the waters you know. I will call your parents now.” Zoey laughed. “Is there something funny miss Daniels?” She shook her head smirking still, she lost it this was only the start of her letting the anger that had built up in three years. “Go on do enlighten me.”

“You know nothing! Nothing about me! I would never initiate a fight! I’m not someone who goes looking for trouble, I’m someone who runs from the trouble! Do I look like I care about being popular? Because I couldn’t care less about how much I’m likes in this shitty little school full of kids that don’t know how the fuck to act! That kid who you let go yeah, I’ve been doing his work and about fifteen other people’s work, to stay out of any trouble. And I forget once and I get this. I didn’t even fight back. Because I don’t like trouble. I’ve been through enough of it to last me a life time. And try to call my parents. You won’t find there number. Because they’re dead! Have been for three years! I live in and orphanage full of kids who can’t get over their selfs! So oh please do send me ‘home’ because I don’t have a home!”

And that is Zoey got herself kicked out of her school and orphanage in ten minutes.


	4. Unwanted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is really hard hitting for my writing sorry.

It’s fair to say Zoey was lost. She didn’t know what to do, she has no-where to go. Everyone was angry at her, no-one would listen. For all they cared she was just a angry little kid. That’s all she’ll ever be. She was nothing. She meant nothing to anyone anymore. Except maybe the pigeon she slept next to.

See the orphanage never actually said that Zoey has left, so for all social services knew she was safe, but she was far from safe. The streets of New York weren't really a place for kids at the best of times. People gave her sympathetic glances as they’d walk past her everyday, she wondered if they noticed how she’d lost all weight or the circles she assumed she had under her eyes.

But no-one really noticed her anymore it’s like slowly she became a part of the city, like a wall because she never moved. She didn’t have the strength to move. She couldn’t see the end of this, the end of life on the street.

She tried to get a job, several actually, but she was 12, she wasn’t even a teenager. No-one was going to hire a kid that hadn’t showered in a month. No-one was going to want her. She regretted the time she spent acting like she was okay just so someone could take her home. No-one would want her, that is how it will always be.

She truly saw no way out of her situation. She spent days staring at the same bench, the same bin, the same people of only a few would chuck sympathy money at her. She wasn’t really living she was just alive. Waiting out every day. She didn’t exactly sleep, worried someone might assault or kill her. But if someone actually tried there would be no difference if she was asleep or awake, she couldn’t run, she couldn’t even protect herself.

You’d think someone would report a homeless kid but no-one came to pick her up. They all probably think she deserved it, maybe she did? It’s crazy how much the mind plays tricks on you. Zoey started blaming herself for being on the street, but she couldn’t help it. She was her only company for a month, the voice in her head got so loud, like it was angry at her. The voice in her head gave her headaches and made her feel ill, the voice in her head was slowly killing her.

The money people threw, Zoey saved. The voice of her mother drilled through her head “save don’t spend, you don’t know when you’ll get another penny.” And never had it been more relevant. But that advice meant that Zoey was yet to eat in a week. She found various water fountains where she would get her water, she couldn’t spend any money. She didn’t have any money. 

Zoey could see the end now. It was clear. The end was a street next to it a girl with brown hair strewn out across the floor, She died from injuries. Her immune system down, she had nothing left to fight. In Zoey’s mind she saw her own death. A brutal death. She saw her twelve year old body beaten and bruised. So this was how three years of suffering would end? 

Her mind thought back to the night it all started. She smiled thinking about how she thought Tony Stark cared about her, but in reality he didn’t care. How naive she was. How hopeful she was. How alone she was. Because in the end no-one cared. 

Zoey’s timer was ticking. She just sat waiting for death to take her away from misery.


	5. Fate

Today Tony lost it. He lost it all. 

With the discovery that he had anxiety he felt lost and confused more often than not. He would sit in his garage for hours upon hours, just sitting, thinking but not moving. The slow rise of his chest was the only thing that reminded anyone he was still alive. Anxiety obviously effected him before but now it was worse. He was terrified of it now, knowing it could come at any moment, made him all the more anxious. Somedays he just wanted to leave his own head. 

He was told to cancel any worried that he had. That included Zoey. And by cancel, get rid. In this case talk to her and see how she is, because she will be fine right? So today he did something he has been waiting three years for. 

But what if he couldn’t do it? What if he broke in front of her? What if she hated him? What if she had moved to a loving home? He should be happy for the latter but he wasn’t, she’d never want to see him again.

He didn’t know why some kid he met twice affected him so much it’s not like she showed any affection towards him. Maybe he just felt sorry for the kid? She’d been through a lot in her life, more than he had at that age.

The streets were crowded and Tony immediately regretted walking, everyone either bumping into him or moving swiftly away from him. He looked up at the building which he was at roughly three years ago. It looked worse in the daylight which seemed impossible for such a place, it was somehow more dull with the sun. 

As he walked to reception everyone glared. But the kids didn’t move, their faces emotionless and empty. In that instant he wanted to take them all home and show them that adults aren’t all bad, but who is he to talk? “Hey, I’m looking for um Zoey Daniels.” He took his glasses off in that Tony Stark way. 

The receptionist turned from happy and welcoming to sour in a matter of seconds “Oh she left bout a month ago maybe more.” Tony’s heart sunk, he didn’t actually think she’d be gone, he should be happy he was supposed to be happy. “Oh okay then.” He went to leave but turned back before reaching the door “Where did she go exactly.”

“We don’t know she just left one day, never came back.” He stopped at it took all his power to not punch the lady in the face. He practically ran out the door, pulling his glasses back onto his face. “Hey Jarvis, Scan for Zoey Daniels this last month in the surrounding area.” It didn’t take long, luckily because Tony was quickly panicking. 

“Here are twenty five matches.” Tony paused looking at the images, it didn’t look a thing like her, sure it had been three years but she was unrecognisable. “Are you sure that’s her?”

“95%, last photo taken 6 hours ago.” The location popped up on the glasses, he ran, and he ran. He looked around for what felt like hours, maybe it was hours, he lost track of time in situations like this. 

He looked down every street and he couldn’t see her anywhere, he began losing hope. “Sir new footage.” It was of a photo of a couple and in the distant background lay a half conscious kid. He ran to that location and couldn’t find her. This was it. She was going to die and he was only minutes away. 

He heard a small whimper from a side street, the street was full of bins and litter. There she was. 

She lay just as Zoey had imagined. Just how the end was to be, but the thing was she could never see things that were unlikely, that’s how she saw the destruction of New York. 

“Hey Zoey.” Her eyes went from closed to slightly open to closed again. “Zoey.” He tried to grab her hand but she slapped them away, she was dying but still held her own. “Jarvis. Suit.” Her breathing began to falter, her condition was declining rapidly. He could physically see the colour leaving her face. 

The suit finally reached them. But now he had to deal with the trouble of picking her up. She was as light as a feather due to her lack of food but she was still fighting in her last minutes. “Zoey I’m going to need to pick you up, to get you safe.” She clearly gave her all to move away from his grip but it didn’t work “look if you don’t sit still you’ll die!”

“Wan’ ‘ie” to most they wouldn’t be able to make out those words, they got lost in her mouth but Tony heard. Tony heard every syllable. He stopped consciously thinking, everything that happened next he wasn’t in control of but he ended up at the tower with a dying twelve year old in his arms.

“Her vitals have stopped sir.”


	6. Better

It was the first time Tony stopped moving. Zoey still in his arms, but she was practically dead. He was holding a dead kid. Most people would run and try to save her but it all got too much, he just stood staring at her. This was his fault. It was all his fault. 

He must have called Doctors in while he was in his distant state because they all rushed to the door pulling the kid away from him, he couldn’t let go. This was all his fault. But he didn’t move. He just stood there watching the swarm of doctors hover over the kid. He couldn’t move anymore. 

He rest his back against the wall but just stared aimlessly. His team mates would walk past but no-one would speak to him because he was in his own world right now, there was no way of bringing him back up to earth.

He didn’t even realise he still had his suit on until it lit up while he was dosing off. He jumped a mile causing him to have to grab onto the door that he was still stood next to. The suit opened and he just stumbled out, weak and confused. 

He didn’t know how long had passed nor did he know the day, all he knew was that he needed to see Zoey. His mind had racked through the possibilities of what could have happened if he was more sensible that night. 

“Mr.Stark!” A doctor ran down the hall and pointed to a small room inviting him in. “She’s okay.” Tony let out a breath he had been holding since the receptionist told him she had left. “But there is one thing. You see we don’t know how she is going to recover, but she will be different. She has something Tony. I don’t know what it is but she hadn’t eaten in two weeks, she hadn’t drunk water in just under a week, she broke two ribs and her hand and she was bleeding internally. And she’s alive, it should have been impossible for her to live.”

“You’re saying she’s enhanced? She’s like this lot?” The doctor shook his head “no we don’t know yet, but her immune system and bodily functions are very likely to be superior.” Tony just nodded, for some reason he felt worse, what if she was just some normal kid, she would be dead by now. But luck was on her side. 

It didn’t take long for Zoey to become stable again, she was terrified when she woke up. She screamed and screamed, pulling all of the wires off her. She was in a panic she couldn’t get out of. Tony ran in but to be honest he was scared to go up to her, he didn’t know what she was capable of. 

She started sobbing and speaking to herself, it sounded like she was cursing herself. She couldn’t sit still, the doctors all over her trying to put tubes back into her. Tony put a calm hand on her shoulder to which she settled a bit but as soon as she saw who it was she started shouting. 

Her anger got worse and worse until it was uncontrollable. The windows and every machine around her shattered, people fell to the floor. Tony watched from the corner of the room, she looked guilty every time she screamed, and her big blue eyes threatened to cry more and more every minute. He just wanted to make her okay.

But he couldn’t he wasn’t someone who could solve someone else’s problems when he couldn’t even solve his own.


	7. Reality

It didn’t take Zoey long to become stable, due to the fast pace that her body worked. But her brain played a different game. Every time she tried to get up it would push her back down, every time she spoke it would shut her up and every time she tried to be happy it would remind her of her past. It’s like her brain wanted her to stay in pain, it would do anything to make her unhappy.

Tony, on the other hand, would do anything to make her happy. He began to learn her behaviour and emotions, he knew when she needed someone and he knew when she needed to be alone. Their bond became close after a three weeks of this. 

When Zoey’s brain was on her side, she helped Tony, she was someone he could vent to and just talk to when he thought he was alone. This helped her realise it wasn’t only her life that was completely messed up, she wasn’t alone for once.

He valued his time with her because before he knew it social services would come along and drag her away because he wasn’t responsible enough. He was already dreading the day, but he didn’t tell Zoey he couldn’t. 

Tony spent the majority of his time in that hospital room, he wheeled a couch in there so they could watch TV without him sitting on the floor. Ignoring the doctors requests Tony would sneak in ice cream as they watched films, even though both of them would fall asleep shortly after it started. They would test each other’s knowledge on topics the other didn’t know, to make them seem stupid; for Zoey it was quantum physics and for Tony it was how to use slang. 

It was worrying everyone how much time Tony spent with Zoey, them all seeing the inevitable. Zoey being taken away, leaving a broken and alone Tony. But it was the happiest they had ever seen the man, he had a genuine smile on his face everyday. Life was finally working out for him. And they weren’t going to take that away.

When Tony woke up to Jarvis politely screaming “Miss Daniels is in distress. Miss Daniels is in distress.” Multiple times he shot up throwing clothes on while running down the corridor. As he reached her room he had to pause both to catch his breath and prepare himself. Because when Zoey broke, she really broke.

As he walked in he dimmed the lights, knowing if she opened her eyes, the brights lights would shock her making it all worse. Her knees were bought to her chest and she was in the corner of the room still on her bed but the way she was shaking really hit Tony. She started quietly muttering “no,no,no,no” until she suddenly woke up breathing heavily. She looked around and started crying but also panicking about what was happening and where she was. 

“Hey Zoey.” Her eyes darted to meet Tony’s, her eyes were empty like they were giving up again. He went and sat next to her just staring at the wall in front of them. “You alright?” She just looked at him like he was the dumbest person she had ever met “Okay stupid question. I meant do you want to talk about it?” She shook her head “Fine, I’ll talk to you then you don’t get rid of me that easy. Where were we?” 

“When you started getting nightmares.” Zoey remembered every conversation they had, she valued them so much because hadn’t talked to anyone in three years. “Hm how fitting. Anyway, you know I never felt bad for my job, I guess I was just stubborn and had wool over my eyes; I never saw the destruction of my labour. Until that day, I told you about that right? Well that’s when they really started. I’d obviously had hundreds before but they were tame, these were brutal. Children getting murdered by a piece of metal with my name on it, families getting destroyed; and what made it worse was that it was reality. Not my mind making this all up, I really did kill children and broke families.”

“T-that’s like mine. They’re real. That’s what makes it worse because they’re not a bad dream it’s just a bad reality.”


	8. Compliment

To some it might seem that Zoey was mesmerised with the decorating of the ceiling but in reality she stared at it to quiet her mind. Today her mind left her in peace. It had taken weeks of trying to shut the busyness out and it had finally worked, she was content.

Zoey was quickly turning back into her old self, not who she was a year ago but who she was before that night. Somedays it was hard, she would remember something or be told something was going to happen and it was hard to stay positive; but she didn’t want to wallow in self pity any longer.

It was ten in the morning and Zoey was staring at the Tv, not really watching it. She was still in the hospital room, there were other rooms but the team thought it best she stayed in the most boring room the kid had ever seen. They had their reasons but never told her, how were they meant to tell her that some day soon she will be taken away so they don’t want her to get to attached? 

She heard shouts from the hall. It wasn’t a strange sound to hear in this place, everyone’s bold personalities clashed very often. But she hadn’t really heard these shouts before, it was a different voice. She turned the volume of the Tv down. 

“No! Listen to me! I can’t just leave her here alone! Yes... I know... I said you could run the company why do you need me!... well then I’ll change the name... Pep, no. ... I don’t want any of them responsible for her! ... well I am responsible for her I’m the reason she’s in this mess!... are you even listening to me right now, you just repeated yourself!... of course I’m listening to you there is no way not to - you’re shouting at me. ... Fine have it your way... no I’m saying bye to her... I can’t leave right now!... you’re killing me here!” 

Suddenly the shouting stopped at Tony entered the room with his fingers on the bridge of his nose shaking his head. “I love her and all but I swear to god she’s gonna cause me an early death.” Zoey just laughed as Tony dramatically sat on the sofa, quickly complaining about what was on Tv. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” 

“Don’t you start.” Tony glared. Zoey propped herself up on the bed so she was now sat cross legged, her body was still a lot weaker than she was used to so most things took a lot of effort. “You know I can cope, Tony? Look at how well I’m doing I’ll be running round this place before you know it. I’m not going to be able to rely on you forever, I know what’s going to happen Tony, I just wish people would stop tip-toeing around the topic.”

“What? What do you know? What’s going to happen?” 

“I know they’re going to take me back, and you’re using my health as an excuse to keep me here longer. I know what day they’re coming so you can make sure that you’re not here on that day, okay? Don’t want you getting all emotional, it would ruin that facade that you put up.”

“When? When are they taking you back? How do you know all of this? What aren’t you telling me?”

“I’ve told you but you were half asleep and in a drunken state. I can see things in advance that cause danger or extreme negative emotions.” Tony was about to reply when his phone started buzzing “One minute!” He hung up almost as soon as he answered.

“So you’re telling me-! Never mind we can talk about this later. Cap’s in charge you need anything call him, anything. No matter what time. Okay? You have my number so you can call me if he’s not around, but he will be. You’ll be fine, the doctors are here just in case. The social services have one more week until they make an appearance. I’m only gone for three days.” At this point Tony was just reassuring himself, Zoey sat back listening to him blather on. 

“Look I’m fine. Everything is going to be okay, unless you stay here any longer. Bye.” She pointed to the door. A small waiver of sadness hit her as he walked down the hall, because this was the last time she’d properly see him. Social services were coming tomorrow, but she couldn’t tell him, he’d never leave.

Tony filed a complaint against the orphanage so Zoey know for certain that she would be sent to another one, she just didn’t know where. She didn’t really mind to be honest, anywhere was better than when she was on the streets. 

She felt bad for Tony, he dropped everything to help her and he wasn’t going to be able to say goodbye, but Zoey hates goodbyes. She didn’t like people feeling sad so avoided them at all costs, it was happier that way. 

Zoey was just about to go to sleep when her phone started buzzing, she tried to ignore it but it was demanding her to pick it up. “Hello?” The voice on the other side seemed frantic “Are you okay?”

“Uh yeah I’m fine, why?” The heavy breathing on the other side of the phone answered all of her questions, but Tony still had the audacity to say “Nothing just wondering. Anyway how have you been?” “I was just going to sleep. And I know you’re lying. Goodnight Tony.” She went to put the phone down but heard a him mutter “kids too clever for her good.” “I heard that!” “It was a compliment. Go to sleep.” They both hung up at the same time. Zoey quickly drifting off into a sleep, Tony on the other hand not so lucky. He was worrying about how this kid was going to cope without him and how he was going to cope without the kid.


	9. The new place

When Tony returned he wanted to be greeted with Zoey giving him a snarky remark or saying something stupid, but when her room was empty he paused. The bed was stripped clean, the sofa was removed, the fridge freezer back in the kitchen and the overflowing bin cleared away. He stood there for a while trying to figure it out. Maybe she would walk up behind him to scare him, but no, that’s not how reality worked. 

He walked into the kitchen area where everyone was with so much anger they all knew that he had found out. “Where is she? Huh! Where is she?!” They all looked to one another each person too scared to speak to him, how could they tell him. “Social Services came yesterday, they’ve taken her to a better orphanage.”

“Why did nobody care to tell me? Did it ever enter your conceited minds that I might want to know?” No-one replied Steve just held out a small bit of paper with the address of the new orphanage on it, Tony just scoffed. In that moment he was going to drive down and pick her up. But that voice came back into his head: maybe she is better without him? After all he wasn’t cut out to care for a kid. She’d be better living in a real family, with a mother and father and kids, they’d give her the love she needs.

The orphanage that Zoey was sent to was far better than the one in New York, it was bright, modern and clean. The other kids would actually make conversation with her and they would talk for hours like kids were meant to do. The two places completely juxtaposed one another. Zoey was happy but her mind was filled with guilt, she just left Tony and didn’t even thank him for what he did. But she couldn’t change that now, she was made to throw the phone away with all of the avengers contacts on, just in case. 

Zoey finally looked and acted like a normal kid, she didn’t feel sad much anymore, sure her life was bad but it was looking up. She genuinely always had a smile on her face. She looked terrible nearly two months ago from living on the street but looking at her now, you wouldn’t believe it. It wasn’t a surprise that someone wanted to adopt the pretty little twelve year old only two weeks in. 

The house felt homely and warm, it reminded her of her old house with her really family. Three other kids came running down the stairs, they must have all been much younger than her. She smiled and greeted them all, maybe this was it? Maybe this was her life? It was great, she was lucky. So why did she not feel like that?

Her room was spacious but still comforting, it begged for clutter and with Zoey’s wardrobe of three outfits she was unable to fill any space. That’s when the couple promised to take her shopping to get her some new clothes. “I’m fine, with this really.” She didn’t want to be a burden on these people that now had to deal with her. 

As much as she likes this place, she never got it in her head that she was going to stay here, and that it would be her home forever. Because it felt wrong, like she was intruding. After a few weeks she spent a lot of time in her room, everyone else either at work or school, she was alone a lot of the time. But she didn’t mind it, it helped her too think. 

The mother worked as a nurse, Zoey knew that much, she didn’t really like her job - constantly complaining about the pressure of it all. The rest of the children all went to the same school, none of them were overly eager to go, but they always seemed to have a good day. The father however, Zoey knew nothing about, he was often stressed about his job - but she never knew what it was. It had to be well paying because the house and technology the family had was close to Tony level. 

“Excuse me Miss Kinder? I was wondering, see it has been on my mind all day, what job does your husband have. I hear a lot about how is going but never what is going on?”

“How much have you heard?” The usual loving face of Miss Kinder turned harsh and worried. Zoey backed up, she knew this was a bad idea, her goddamn inquisitiveness. “N-Nothing just that he is stressed a l-lot. I-I just w-wondered.” And there it was the nervous stutter that she had acquired due to the death of her family. She sounded so weak with it, so lost, so alone. 

Zoey practically ran upstairs, the feeling of home and being safe had gone. She now felt vulnerable and confused. When Mr Kinder returned home she heard hushed shouts and stressed, panicked voices. In that moment Zoey wanted her enhancements to leave, but her mind screamed to run. The shouts of her mind slowly got too much to the point where she covered her ears and screamed for it to stop. 

No-one heard her, even her brain didn’t listen. Showing her what was going to happen in less than ten minutes. They knew. How did they know? But today she chose not to listen to her mind warning her about the major danger. Because if she reacted and ran, she had no-where to go and she’d prefer the inevitable than be homeless again.

The heavy footsteps on the wooden stairs echoed through her mind, her heart rate began to rise. She could do this. Couldn’t she?


	10. Grateful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a violent chapter. With Child-Abuse in it, please do not read if you are sensitive to this topic.

The crimson blood had now dried beneath Zoey’s nose, the violet of bruising refused to move from her eye, the pounding of her head refused to subside. The barely managed to open her eyes now, the bright light being too much, it made her feel sick, and she didn’t want to image what would happen if she was sick. She sat in the uncomfy chair that her arms and legs were tied to, it would all work out in the end, that’s all she thought now. 

She had no idea how Mr Kinder found out about her enhancements but she finally found out his job. The five letters hadn’t meant much to her when she heard him whisper them every night, she wasn’t really thinking. But like a set of cogs finally fitting in to place she remembered Steve telling her about Hydra, she just wasn’t thinking. Sometimes she’d close her eyes and imagine she was back in that hospital room with Tony watching Tv that he would not find amusing and make sarcastic remarks every now and then. Life was harder then but life seemed impossible now.

If she survived the testing she would remember the sound of Mr Kinder’s footsteps for the rest of her life, the pain in her stomach every time - because she knew what was coming next and no matter how many times it happened she didn’t get used to it. “Open your eyes.” She couldn’t, the pain of moving any muscle in her body was enough to make her scream at the moment. He punched her face “I said open your eyes!” She tried but the throbbing of the new contact made it harder, she couldn’t do this anymore. This time a needle was stabbed into her arm, she would have screamed but her voice was too broken from the screaming already taken place. 

She didn’t know what he was putting in her, she never did, all she knew is that she always woke up two hours later in more pain than she was in before. Just as expected she woke to pain filling her whole body, her arm and left side of her head felt on fire. She slowly opened her eyes, but snapped them shut again at the sight of blood pouring out of her bruised arm. That’s when she started giving up, nobody knew she was here, nobody knew this was happening, nobody would save her. She was alone.

The only reason she was kept alive was the studying of her brain and how it was programmed to see into the future, otherwise she would have died weeks ago. She barely ate only when forced to because it hurt, it hurt to do anything even breathe. She had never felt so tired in her life, she didn’t know how long she had been strapped up to this chair but she knew for certain it was well over a month. She began worrying about the other kids but soon another bruise was added to the display to take her mind of that. She spent most of her time now trying to figure ways to finish this. She could escape and even if she did she wouldn’t be able to get anywhere, all of her muscle must have disappeared by now, she wouldn’t be able to walk.

She didn’t want to live as a lab rat, she wanted to be her thirteen year old self. But it just seemed that ever since she was nine her life was doomed, she clearly wasn’t wanted alive and the world tried its hardest to make sure she would suffer. There were small glimmers of hope every week, Mr Kinder might leave her between sessions a little bit longer one day giving her body a bit longer to fix itself. But all hope was usually lost when she heard those footsteps again. Sometimes she just wanted to scream and cry and tell him to stop and leave her alone, but that only made matters worse, made him angrier, made him more violent.

Whenever He entered the room the radio and TV were switched on Zoey only guessed that it was to block out any noise that she made, not to upset the other children. But she loved it the way that she still knew a bit about the outside world, the news that she would watch everyday when she was younger made her realise that what was happening to her could have been worse. But it didn’t help the pain that she felt, she cursed her body for healing, because if it didn’t heal so fast she would be dead by now and in all truthfulness there was nothing she wanted more in that moment. The emotional and physical pain quickly became too much. It would have been easier to die. 

Just as she was going to rest her mind a name from the Tv reached her ears “Tony Stark.” She wondered about him almost everyday: how he was doing? Whether he had anyone to talk to? Why he was constantly on the news? She’d never get to see him again and she truly wanted nothing more but to thank him for everything that he had done for her. She knew a fair amount about what he had been up to because the news was obsessed with him, and with the recent Sokovia incident - she worried that he was hurt. She wanted to open her eyes and see his face on the screen but she couldn’t, it hurt too much.

So for her last thoughts she pictured the night her family died, when this downhill decline started. She was surrounded by fire and the bodies of her family but there was a light, Tony Stark, he saved her and she would forever be grateful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I’ve just ended this book by accident. I didn’t even get to the parts with Peter, should I carry this book on? Update I wrote another chapter so it’s carrying on haha


	11. Hysteria

Zoey nearly cried when her eyes opened, she started screaming and shouting. She survived and as far as she was concerned that was the worst outcome possible, she had years of more torture. To most people watching it would seem like the teenager was panicking about new surroundings, but she was frustrated something or someone would not let her die; when all she wanted to do was die. 

“Hey kid it’s alright, you’re alright. It’s going to be fine. Everything is going to be okay.” No. No it wasn’t. She had convinced herself countless times that everything is okay in the end and it never is, it’s a lie people tell you so you don’t kill yourself. “Zo please calm down.” She still didn’t recognise the voice, she didn’t want to believe that it was Mr Kinder but in reality it probably was. That name. It made her cry, all the things he did, and now she lived to go through it all again. 

She still couldn’t speak, but she could scream and if that was the only way to release her frustration then so be it. She gave up acting calm and normal because her life was far from calm and normal to be honest it was the complete opposite. “Zoey Daniels listen to me!” She flinched and almost fell off the chair “Can you please please open your eyes, just look.” She shook her head, she didn’t want to see the beige walls and blood on her arms, she didn’t want to see his face, she didn’t want to see. “I promise you nothing bad is going to happen if you open them.” 

Zoey hadn’t gotten past the initial shock of being alive enough to actually listen to the voice that was speaking and the words that he said. But this was a promise, she trusted promises. As she opened her eyes she expected a sharp flash to take pictures and temporarily blind her but when she saw the white walls and a familiar TV she was relieved. She didn’t know where she was, but she was relieved, she wasn’t there and that is all that mattered. 

“See? Nothing bad happened did it? I’d never hurt you or cause any pain emotionally or physically you know that right.” He wasn’t saying it for Zoey more for himself maybe if she forgave him he maybe able to forgive himself.“But you already did.” Zoey wanted to shout at this man and call him as many names as possible but she didn’t have the power, her voice so quiet she doubted he could hear her, he wasn’t the best at hearing anyway. She shut her eyes again, it made her happy having her eyes shut, it’s like she was in her own world, no worries, no pain.

In truth he did hurt her, maybe all of this was his fault, it probably was. He would change a lot if he could go back in time and he would change ever meeting Zoey because he ruined her life and just looking at her now consolidated that idea. But he didn’t know what to do, he couldn’t send her to social services because they system ruined her twice and he had enough of picking her limp dead body up, even if it was only twice. 

“I’m sorry, Kid” those three words hit Zoey like a bus, it all made sense. The wall, The TV, The voice, The words. She opened her eyes again and slowly turned her head ignoring all of the pain. Her eyes fell upon a tired and lost face, a man who wasn’t and would never hurt her. “Mr Stark?” He turned around slowly giving a smile that was only half there. “Hey kid.” She was safe. Finally she was safe. She started crying from relief, maybe life might want her around. “Oh god, are you okay? What’s wrong?” Tony started panicking at her hysteric state. 

“I-I’m g-great. T-thank...you m-mr Stark... f-for e-everything.” And she could never thank him enough, he saved her three times.


	12. Pessimist

It had been two months since Tony saved her and physically she was back to normal but not the same could be said for her mental health.

“Sorry What was that? I couldn’t hear you. Would you say it a bit louder for me.” The man with greying hair snarled in her face about two inches away, his breath on her face made her feel sick. “I said stop!” He laughed to himself and punched her nose with a satisfying crack he walked off, clearly pleaded with himself. 

“I’ll see you later sweet cheeks.” And Zoey didn’t doubt it for a minute on a good day he would be around four times bad days up to even ten. He obviously wasn’t satisfied because he walked back in pulling her head back by her hair “What did I say about crying? Because I will kill you. And you know I will.” 

She shot upright in her bed the familiar surroundings should have calmed her down but they made it all worse. “I will kill you.” Ran through her mind, he was going to come back and kill everyone. If he saw Tony take her he would know where she was and for that fact everyone else. This was it. She racked her brain for solutions. Nothing. She started crying and breathing heavier. This was all her fault. She saw all of the avengers dead in her mind, she tried to save them but she couldn’t it was impossible. 

The door flung open. He was here. She couldn’t look, she wanted it to be a nightmare. “Zo. Zoey. Wake up. It’s a dream, everything’s fine.” She opened her eyes to see a worried looking Tony, she should have calmed down at this sight but she couldn’t. He was going to die and it was all her fault. “Zoey just breathe.” But she couldn’t, she couldn’t breathe at all. “Look I’ll put the Tv on okay. Move over.” Tony was helpless he didn’t know what to do, he just needed to distract her from her own mind. “What shall we watch?” There was no answer so he just put on a random show. 

Her eyes were glued to the Tv but he knew she wasn’t watching it, she stopped breathing so heavy but now it was worse she was just dazed. “Zoey please talk to me. It helps if you tell me what happened, trust me.” She did trust him, but she couldn’t tell him that he was going to die in less than 24 hours. “Zoey.” She shook her head. “Jesus Christ Zoey it can’t be that bad just tell me!” The frustration was prominent in his voice and Zoey’s emotions took over. 

“You’re going to die! All of you! And it’s all my fault!” 

“No we’re not.”

“Yes you are! Can you just listen to me! I know that you are going to die. I’ve seen it! Everyone dead! Because you tried to save me. He’s coming back for me.”

“I can tell you he won’t be here anytime soon.”

“Well tell that to everyone else at Hydra because they want my brain and I’m sure they won’t be stopped by you standing in their way.”

“Look we’ve fought them before and we will do it again they’re not getting you, okay?” She didn’t reply, he wasn’t going to listen and that was clear, she didn’t blame him she was only thirteen. What did she know? Clearly nothing. Tony left after that leaving the kid to go back to sleep. But she couldn’t, not with the knowledge that people were going to die because of her. 

It was like New York again when she left the compound, her mind was screaming at her to leave so she did. It made sense, no-one else got hurt. It was calm outside, the early morning was always a nice time to be awake. She knew that Hydra were watching her somehow but she didn’t let that scare her, what could she do? 

“Ms Daniels has left the building sir” Tony woke up pulling his hair, this kid had caused him a lot of grief and sure he loved the girl but was she frustrating. She just never listened to him and blamed everything on herself. “Oh god, how long ago?” 

“Fifteen minutes ago.” He ran to get his suit, she can’t of gone far in fifteen minutes, she hadn’t left the compound except to go to get food in a few weeks. He wasn’t cut out for this. The poor girl had gone through so much at such a young age and he wasn’t the one to support her, she needed real support, a real family. But he was too scared to let her go, because every time he did she died.   
Tony couldn’t believe that the kid had died twice and was currently very much alive running away from home. 

He saw her, she hadn’t gone very far at all; Still on the road which led to the compound. She looked up and saw him and started running into the woods. Why couldn’t he just leave her? She was trying to save him. “Zoey! Just stop!” She kept running so Tony aimed a repulser at the tree above her head, but just as he did he was knocked off his feet. “Oh my god! Tony I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. It just happened on an impulse.” Tony groaned with discomfort but quickly sat up. “What the hell was that.”

“I don’t know really. Happens when I’m in danger, it protects me and harms everyone else.” She said too chirpily for Tony’s liking. “So you can kill someone with that?” She nodded thinking to herself “yes most probably.” He laughed “full of surprises. Anyway, where were you going? Do you think it’s clever to go on a walk at five in the morning without telling me? Because for all I know hydra could’ve come and taken you.”

“Too late.” Both Tony and Zoey turned around slowly, faced with a man with greying hair. “You’re meant to be dead.” Tony was certain he killed this man, how could he be alive when he saw his dead boy on the floor. “And she’s meant to be dead.” He pointed at Zoey who was currently hiding behind Tony’s suit. “Well neither you nor her are dead so what is meant to happen now.”

“Give her to me and you and your friends will all be safe.” 

“What’s the other option?”

“You all die including the kid.” 

Zoey heard the pause in Tony’s mind “you seriously can’t be thinking about this? Are you having a laugh Tony? You’re stupid, you know that. Absolute idiot.” 

“Option three?”

“Only two sorry old pal.” 

“You’re one to talk I can honestly see the gray in your hair from here.” Zoey went to step in front of Tony but he put an arm out saying and assertive “kid” Along with it, Zoey should have known not to mess with that voice. But she didn’t want to see people she loved dying. “Option One on behalf of me and Tony.”

“Finally someone who talks sense.”

“Zoey get your ass back here.” But she kept walking “Zoey if you dare take another step.” She took another step many more steps to be honest. He started panicking, but soon everything was silent. “Tony! Why on earth did you kill him!”

“Because he was going to take you!”

“But now you’re all going to die and they’re going to take me anyway. Oh my god you’re so stupid, I’ve heard these plans multiple times, he used to tell me how this was going to work out and I bet you there is already a fight breaking out at the compound right now.” 

“Stop talking like that! You have no hope in anything! Maybe just maybe if you look on the bright side not everyone dies. No-one dies. You constantly think something bad is going is going to happen. You need to understand that sometimes good things happen!”

“Oh pardon me for being pessimistic. You know it’s just that my whole family died, you threw me in an orphanage that made life hell, then I got thrown out of school and that orphanage for a fight I didn’t even participate in, then I ended up homeless, then I died, then life was looking better, I got adopted, but then they turned out to be hydra, then I was abused, hence dying again; all in four years. So I do apologise for not being the happiest person!”

“Zoey-”

“No tony, I’m going back to help your team.”


	13. An eye for an eye

The compound was eerily quiet from the outside, but from stepping one foot inside Zoey knew there was a different story to be told. It was half five in the morning, the majority of the avengers were morning people but were not ready for an attack at this time. The amount of unrecognisable faces that she saw shook her to the core, she had no-where to go. The only thing she could do was take the fight until other people started to notice what was happening. She walked into a hall way complete with ten or more hydra associates, their heads all snapped round to face the young girl. Before she knew it she was dodging bullets and knifes. 

She could have killed all ten of them there and then but she needed FRIDAY to notice what was happening and alert everyone. A man initiated a hand to hand fight Zoey quickly rolled under his legs to dodge the knife he now had in his hand “FRIDAY!” The AI knew what to do and to be fair was already in he process. Zoey crouched to the floor not ready for the impact that she was about to put on herself. A blue light filled the room and there was bodied scattered along the floor, she crawled to the wall out of breath and feeling sick. The power got too much, she couldn’t deal with it very well but she needed to help. 

As she stood up she wobbled, quickly balancing herself with the wall. Roughly ten more of Hydra came her way “Oh please god no.” She hated hurting or killing people, in fact she resented herself for doing it. But she had to otherwise it was the end of the avengers and it would all be her fault. She kicked the first man square in the chest, he took people out with him. The bullets were quickly being fired, and she somehow dodged the majority of them, a few leaving holes in her arms and legs but no-where major. They weren’t giving up, she tried to fight without using her force field and it was barely working, she was still worn out from the first one. But she had to, the six men that left standing would never give up.

She would have risked too much by going to the floor again, so she stood up. The familiar blue light radiated through the hall, and bodies were left on the floor again. Including Zoey’s. She tried to get up to find the wall but she was too weak, she was weak, she always will be. She imagined her family, looking down on her now, surely they would have been disappointed, her weak body surrounded by almost twenty dead men. She was a murderer, they would never forgive her. She didn’t deserve forgiveness. These people had families, families that now no longer had a father, she ruined those families, and according them she was the villain, she was the murderer. 

“Zo. Kid you did it. You saved us. Thank you.” Steve sat down next to her, she was still in a heap on the floor “I’m a murderer.” She looked to the floor, not having the power to look at the people she had killed. “No you’re not. You had to kill them or they would have killed you. You didn’t have a choice.” Steve placed a comforting hand on her back. “But I still murdered them, therefore I’m a murderer, it doesn’t matter why. I killed them. Their families are broken because of me.” 

“Zoey, you have to understand that these people are bad people who want nothing better than to kill people that they see. You can’t feel like this, it won’t do you any good trust me.”

“But they had families Steve! They had people that loved them and I know. I was in a family and their dad was hydra, I saw him murdered and as much as I hated him I didn’t want him to die; his kids are now without a father, they were normal kids, now without a dad. All because of me.”

“So you believe that all of us, the avengers, are murderers who should be punished, as we are really the criminals.” Zoey slowly nodded, it was stupid but the guilt made her say stupid things. “You’ve all killed people, these people you killed think they’re doing the right thing, they’re not different from you. But you get away with it because you share the view of the wider society.”

“What you’re saying makes sense but we can’t change that, you haven’t seen the worst of these people, the ones who want to destroy the world, make people be in pain. For all you know these are good people forced into this, but trust me Hydra do not care for people like me and you.”

“Stop acting like I’m innocent and clueless to all of this! I’ve been in a Hydra household for two months, two months I had to listen to that man plan how he was going to destroy millions of people at a time. So I think I have seen the worst of those people.”

“Look just listen to me. You aren’t a murderer, yes you killed people but those people were going to kill us and then use you to destroy populations, so you actually saved millions.”

“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”


	14. New starts

After the attack on the compound Zoey walked round not like she used to. She walked round wanting to go back and not kill anyone, she would go back and never try to save the avengers. She was just imagining the faces of the Kinder families kids when they’re told that their father had died. She was no better than the person that killed her own family. 

“‘Sup kid?” Tony just waltz in her room like he always did, grabbing the chair from the other side of the room, to go and sit next to her by her desk. “Nothing.” Tony huffed, he had a bond with this kid then he broke it by not listening to her, he warned her but he didn’t listen. “You know you can tell me anything, anything at all.”

“But you won’t listen.” She muttered to herself while scribbling an equation on her paper and giving herself calculations to work out. “Look I'm sorry, I should have listened, I should have told everyone else what was going to happen. But you saved us. No-one died.”

“Stop saying that! You all act like I’m some sort of hero but I’m not! And people did die over over twenty people died! I killed twenty people Tony so if that is what a hero is count me the fuck out!” She was now on her feet walking out of the room leaving Tony sat by her desk, he sifted through the papers she was scribbling on. Pages and pages of work that some of it even he didn’t completely understand. He forgot how clever she was. He was too worried to send her to school, it was horrible but he was worried she’d have another burst of anger and not be able to control it. 

“Sir, Zoey has left the building. Voice recording of before she left.” The first thing he heard was sniffling, then crying then sobbing. “FRIDAY Don’t tell him I’m gone, please dear god don’t tell him.” The recording stopped he held his head in his hands. He didn’t think he was that bad of a guardian figure but looking back he was pathetic. 

It wasn’t until early night time that Zoey returned, her cheeks stained red from tears, her movement tired and wobbly. Tony had been worried out of his mind, but he trusted that she would come back so didn’t call her, she needed to be alone. He was sat in the kitchen with a glass of whisky in his hand, when he saw Zoey he practically threw the glass on the table. Running over to her, he hugged her. For the first time ever. Zoey finally felt part of a family again. “I’m so sorry kid, I’m sorry for everything. I’ve been useless, I promise I’ll make it up to you. Oh god I’m so sorry.” 

“It’s okay.” Because in that moment everything was finally okay, Zoey in the arms of someone who would do anything for her and never let anything bad come her way again. She felt safe. She felt happy. “Hey I’ve got a surprise for you.” Zoey gave him a puzzled look as he handed her a bit of paper, she read it but couldn’t reach the end before he said “It’s an acceptance letter for one of the best school in the state.” His excited tone made Zoey laugh, he was more excited than she was. But he was only excited because he finally did something right for the kid. “Thank you.” 

“You start next week, it will be an earlier start to get there but well considering you don’t sleep in past five in the morning I thought you wouldn’t mind that.”

Everything was looking up.


	15. Petulant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realised how I’ve messed up this timeline - I’m so frustrated oh my god! I thought that age of Ultron was in 2014 and the winter soldier was in 2015. That’s dyslexia for you. So I’m sorry but yeah. Age of Ultron has happened here and so has winter soldier. So in this chapter it’s 2015 without age of Ultron. I’m 15 chapters in and don’t have the maths capabilities to work this all out again. I’m so sorry if it confused you. But thanks for reading :)

“Hey kid how was school?” Zoey didn’t even look at Tony just threw her bag on the couch and rummaged through the fridge, she found an old slice of pizza and a can of soda; she held the pizza in her mouth while saying “Good I guess.” She sat down next to Tony - who was scrolling through his phone - the Tv already on she changed the channel. 

“You guess?” His phone was now placed next to him and he gave her a worried look, he had become overly protective of the girl and her emotions, if there was any indicator that she was upset he had to know. “Stop looking at me like that, it was just a normal day.” He nodded picking his phone up again.

“You alright by yourself tonight?” Zoey nodded not even looking at him “where you going?” 

“I’m going for dinner with Pepper.”

“Again? You go out for dinner with her an awful lot, considering you’re her - to be honest I don’t know who is who’s boss anymore.” Tony scoffed, the Stark had already rubbed off on her and her fourteen year old mind-set reminded him of when he was younger a worrying amount. “Zoey she’s my girlfriend. She has been for quite some time. Did you really not know? Anyway I tell you that I am her boss for certain.”

Zoey spat her drink all over the floor which made Tony grimace “she’s your what now?” Tony just shook his head looking at the shocked face of Zoey who obviously zoned out whenever he talked about Pepper. “You heard me.”

“I don’t believe it. You. And pepper? No this must me some sort of joke. Are you actually being serious right now? Take the cameras out, you got me.”

“I’ve been with her since I met you. Or a bit after I can’t precisely remember, I wasn’t doing my best back then.” Zoey was already up and rummaging through cupboards trying to find a mop to clean the mess up. “Are you going to get married?” She shouted with her head stuck in a cupboard. “It’s still early days.”

“It’s been five years that doesn’t seem like early days to me. Please get married. I didn’t know we had a whole draw full of chocolate, you could have told me before.” Tony wondered how she didn’t noticed, he hadn’t been keeping it a secret at all, she was just oblivious to it all for some strange reason. 

“Okay I need to get ready, you need to go and do some work, get up. I’ll come and see you before I leave.” Zoey dragged her bag to her room, she sat down to do work but her mind quickly diverting to something else completely. She managed to finish a whole sheet in the time that Tony had taken to get ready, there was a small knock at her door. As Tony stepped in she smiled, he hadn’t seen him put so much effort into his appearance. “You really like her, huh?”

“Well yes we have been going out for five years. I think there would be problems if I didn’t like her.” She threw a pencil at him but he just brushed it off. “Are you sure you’re going to be alright by yourself?

“I’m not even by myself. I have the avengers in the same building you must be the most overprotective man I’ve met. Next thing I know Steve will be watching me sleep. No, stop, stop thinking about it.” 

“You’re a great kid you know that?”

“Yes, now go don’t want to leave her waiting do you?” He smiled at she spoke and ruffled her hair to which she scowled at him as he left he quietly said “be good.” Which was something that had quickly become habit and a thing for the two of them. 

Fridays quickly became date night, once Tony trusted Zoey completely; every Friday he would get dressed up and leave Zoey in her room making sure that people would keep an eye on her. Zoey wondered why Pepper didn’t move in, considering date night had now been going on for two months. “No I’m just saying maybe she would appreciate it if you asked her to move in rather than you waiting for her to ask you.” 

“That’s not how adults work.”

“That’s not how girls work.” She raised an eyebrow smirking as she ate an apple. “Why do you eat those things?”

“What apples?” Tony nodded “Uh they taste nice, well the ones you get do. My parents used to get the cheap ones that made me feel sick. Why?” “Because I don’t tell you to eat well yet you do it, I don’t tell you to behave well but you do, I don’t tell you to get up and go to school every morning but you do.”

“Stop being weird.”

“Zoey I’m being serious.”

“No you’re being philosophical, about literally eating an apple. Are you feeling okay?”

“There you go again.”

“Oh my god Tony you’re doing my head in. I’m going to do my work.”

“And again!” He shouted in complete and utter shock. Zoey sat in her room with her head in her hands, he was an absolute idiot. “FRIDAY? Has Tony consumed any substances that may cause him to not be himself?”

“No miss.”

“Do you know why he is acting like a weirdo then, because if he carries on like this for the rest of the night I might have to leave.”

“He seems thankful and happy today, he values your presence and the way that you are. And that he doesn’t have to tell you to do things and that you’re amazing.”

“TONY!” He appeared at her door in an instant and scuttled to her bed. “Spill.” 

“What?”

“Huh?”

“What do you want me to spill?”

“The fucking water, no Tony put my glass down. I was being sarcastic. What has gotten into you?” 

“A drug Miss Daniels I couldn’t identify it earlier. It’s very tame just makes him act like an idiot for a while. I’ve called miss Potts and told her date night is cancelled.”

“The idiot part isn’t too different from normal.” Tony dramatically took a harsh intake of breath at her comment “I was wrong you are mean.” 

This was going to be a long night


	16. Arguments

“Do you remember where you got that coffee from?” Zoey glared at the guilty eyes of Tony, he shuffled in his seat almost caving in on himself, he slowly shook his head. “So you have no recollection of the past two hours before I started eating that apple?” He slowly nodded his head before holding the bridge of her nose.

“FRIDAY do you have anything to enlighten me? Maybe how the drug was consumed and where he got it from?” There was a long pause Zoey just glared at Tony thinking how inhumane this was, he was a middle aged man acting like a ten year old. If she could she would probably end up crying on the floor from laughter but she would upset Tony. 

“It wasn’t in the Coffee. Possibly the lunch that he got from the fridge but I don’t see why there would be a drug in it.” Zoey did. And before she knew it she was stomping to the main part of the compound, dragging a lost looking Tony along with her. 

“Clint!” She shouted, she knew it was him, he enjoyed playing pranks on Tony and he had recently come round to visit for a week, having retired yet again. “Huh?” 

“Here.” Zoey handed Tony to him, Clint just stared obviously confused about what was happening. “What?” 

“No don’t act dumb Clint I know you got annoyed at him for eating all of the snacks, I know you put innocent drugs in them for pay back. So you can deal with him, because I need to study. He thinks he’s ten by the way so good luck.” She sarcastically waved at him. 

“See I told you it wouldn’t work.” Natasha patted him on the back while flicking his ear. Clint went to walk off expecting Tony to go and sit on the sofa or go to the lab, so when he turned around to shut the door of his room and saw Tony he screamed far louder than necessary. “What the hell, Stark? Can you leave me alone?”

“Yes.” But Tony just stood there and Clint waited for him to walk off. “Go on then.” 

“I don’t want to.” 

“Fine then, what? What on earth could you want to do? If you shrug your shoulders that means you don’t want to do anything so goodbye.” And that is how Tony Stark with the mind of a ten year old found himself wondering around the compound. He made sure he greeted people before they greeted him which got some strange glares.

But soon he was bored and knocked on every door in the whole compound. A lot of them were empty and the rest of them that had people in just ignored him because they knew what was going on. 

“Miss Daniels, Mr Stark is at your door. He has knocked on everyone’s door. Shall I let him in? Very well.”

“I didn’t think you were going to open that door. What you doing? Why? What are you doing that for? Why are you doing that? Zoey? What are you doing? Why?”

“Shut up Tony.” 

“I’m bored.”

“Same. But I have to do this.”

“No you don’t.”

“Yes I do.”

“No you don’t.”

“Yes I do!”

“No you don’t!” This went on for a while, until Steve had to stop them. The team often forgot how young Zoey was because in reality at this moment in time she was only four years older than Tony, still a kid. But she had to grow up otherwise she would have gotten no-where. “I’m tired.” 

“Then go to sleep, no not in my bed Tony, go to your own room. You’re an idiot.” 

“No you’re an idiot.”

“No y-” both of them were interrupted by Steve shouting from the kitchen “Don’t you dare start that again.” They sarcastically smirked at each other before Tony left. In another life time they could have been best friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate this chapter. I can’t write happy or light hearted stuff because I dunno I just can’t.


	17. Fractured

After the drug incident Zoey and Tony became closer constantly laughing about what happened. Some nights they would sit in front on the TV and watch Tony robotically knock on everyone’s door and then get ignored moving onto the next one without a thought. Their relationship was stronger than it had ever been before, they barely spent a second apart.

But it didn’t last long. Slowly the time that they spent together decreased to the point where the majority of days they didn’t see each other. Tony was preoccupied with something and whenever Zoey tried to talk to him about it he was tired or calmly shouted at her. So it got to the point she didn’t try because whenever she tried to make conversation he was short with her and it ended up with an argument. Zoey figures she did something wrong, because why else would he suddenly hate her.

This had been going on for two months.She missed when he would say good-morning to her and just as she was leaving the door threw some breakfast at her because he knew she never ate in the mornings. She now wondered if he knew what she was doing everyday, but she couldn’t waste time thinking about stuff like that. Because every morning instead of a hello she got a glare and instead of a ‘have a good day’ she got Tony turning his back and walking away.

Zoey walked to school now, and it was quite the walk but she couldn’t stand being at home, so if she walked she could leave earlier. She told happy a month ago that Tony would take her and even though he was suspicious he accepted it and she walked both two and from school.

Sat in class, Zoey glared at the clock ; her mind diverting to her fractured no broken relationship with Tony. “Sorry Zoey, are we boring you? Would you like to leave?” Zoey still in her own world not knowing who was talking to her and not knowing where she was replied with a confident “yep.” It didn’t take long for her to realise where she was when she had thirty one pairs of eyes glaring at her. “Oh god, look I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, I just.” She was getting redder by the second. 

“Principals office.”

She picked her stuff up scurrying out of the room, wanting to not be under the hateful glares of everyone. She sat down on a chair waiting for her name to be called in. “Hello Miss Daniels, want to come in?” She internally screamed no, she didn’t want to get in trouble, it was two years ago again only this time it was actually her fault. “So I’ve been made aware that you are bored in your classes? Is that correct?”

Zoey shook her head “well how come you told your teacher you wanted to leave? And how come you seem to not be caring with school anymore? And how come your grades have dropped significantly in the past two months? And how come you don’t do homework anymore? Do I need to carry on?” Zoey shook her head, it was fitting two months because she had been trying to help fix everything with Tony she had no time for school. Even though they weren’t speaking Zoey’s mind was always wondering why. “I have called your guardian Mr Stark in, he shall be here soon.”

Her heart sunk. He was going to kill her. He tried so hard to get her into this school and she just ruined everything. He was going to kick her out. He- her thoughts were interrupted by a lady walking into the office. How stupid Zoey was to think he cared, like he would actually come to her school. The lady shook the principals hand “Natasha Romanoff. Sorry that Mr Stark could not make it, he tells me to give you his deepest apologies, but he was called in for an emergency meeting. Asked if I could come instead.” Natasha nodded at Zoey trying to reassure her that she was speaking the truth but no matter how good of a spy she was she knew what Tony was like. 

“I would quite like to speak to Mr Stark sometime is there any other time more suitable for him to pop in for a chat?”

“He’s a very busy man as you could guess I don’t really know I guess I can ask him when I drop this one home.” Natasha was putting on a great front of being a responsible adult, almost laughable how much she could change from her usual self. “Well I guess I shall tell you...” and the principal explained very clearly what had gone wrong, little did he know he was wasting his breath because no-one cared. “So therefore I suggest you take Zoey home now and she can come back tomorrow. On time.” Both Zoey and Natasha walked out of the office, and into the parking lot. “You stole one of his cars?”

“No I asked. And the grunt he gave in reply I translated to a yes. Was it I don’t know.” Zoey laughed as she sat in the passenger seat, the silence was unwelcoming but stayed around for quite a while. “Nat?” The hum in reply welcomed Zoey to carry on “why does he hate me? Tony?”

“He doesn’t” she answered quickly almost like she was scared to say that he did hate her. “Well then why has he barely spoken to me in a month? Why when the principal phones him does he send you? Why when I go to him at night because I’m fucking scared of my own mind does he tell me to leave him alone? Because it sounds to me like he hates me.”

“Look he’s a troubled man and I’m not on his side for this, he’s been cruel to you and it’s not right, but he has a lot on his plate. But he goes through times like this he distances himself and refuses to talk to anyone. You just have to ignore him, it’s what he wants. He’ll be annoying you again in no time trust me.” 

“Can you not tell Steve about this? I’m not in the mood for one of his talks today.” She nodded with it a small laugh, she loved this kid. She was so broken and scared but at the same time the sweetest and kindest fourteen year old she’d met. And even though she would never admit it, she would do anything for Zoey. The majority of the rest of the journey was spent in silence but it was comfortable not awkward. 

As Zoey stepped into the compound her mood instantly changed seeing Tony stood in the kitchen “You’re back early.” It was so rare that he spoke she nearly jumped at the sound of her voice “Well yeah basically what happened was-” But Tony just walked away, it sounded stupid but she wanted him to tell him off, ground her for all she’s cared but no he shrugged it off.

Because he didn’t care. Why should he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why am I so much better at writing sad stuff? It’s getting to me.


	18. Carelessness

Slowly Zoey became more careless with the way she was. She used rarely went to school anymore, she couldn’t concentrate there was no point. But she still left early in the morning and supposedly came back on time - she just never entered the gates. The school phoned up every day but no-one replied, Tony just leaving it go to answer phone. She liked this way of living, she felt no pressures, no-one was looking out for her, she couldn’t let anyone down but herself. 

She was sat in the park just watching, people walked past clearly wondering why she was not at school but no-one asked. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. “Hey Steve.” She said in a chirpy tone, like everything was going great. “Where are you?” He knew, she knew it wasn’t going to be long before someone found out, but she wasn’t ready yet. “School.”

“No. Don’t. Where actually are you? I know you’re not at school so don’t start with that. Look I’m not going to tell you off or anything I’m just worried about you. You haven’t been acting like yourself.” Zoey wanted to scream into the phone as to why he thought she wasn’t acting herself but she kept her composure. “I’m in the park, I can walk home it’s not too far away.”

“Hey it’s alright I’ll come and pick you up.” He cared. Maybe if someone cared it didn’t matter that Tony hadn’t had a conversation with her in nearly three months. Because someone cared. She waited for a while before she heard someone call her name. “Oh hey Steve.” 

“You okay kid? Why aren’t you going to school anymore? Is someone bullying you?”

“No, it’s just you know I guess. I don’t know really, but every time I went there I got told off like they had me down on a list and when they saw my name they shouted at me. I was just going there to be shouted and I get enough of that when I try to speak to Tony.”

“You know you have to go. If you don’t Tony will be filed with inadequate childcare and you’ll be shipped off somewhere again, I don’t know what I’d do knowing you were alone with another unfamiliar family.”

“It might not be that bad, it’s not like Tony cares. It might be a good thing to do, he has enough to deal with he doesn’t need me ruining everything.”

“You’re not something to deal with. You know Tony and I do not see eye to eye on much, and the way he has treated you these past months is pathetic. I’ve told him he needs to get it together, he’s wallowing in self pity. But he will come out on the other side.”

“That’s what Nat told me last month.” Steve gave her a pitiful glance, she didn’t deserve any of this. The poor kid had been through enough pain to last her a lifetime, and now she felt unwanted again. The whole team had shouted at Tony more than once to go and fix things with Zoey but he never did, they couldn’t understand. 

“Shall we go home?” Zoey shook her head, just another encounter she didn’t want with Tony waited at the door for her. “You need to go home.”

“But he isn’t there when I am, so if I go back another time he will be there. I can’t see him anymore, I’m worried about what I will do. Every time I see him I get angrier because I don’t know what I’ve done wrong. But he won’t talk to me. Bad things happen when I get angry. I don’t want to hurt anyone.” 

“I’ll take you down to his lab when we get back and you can talk to him if you feel yourself getting too angry move your arm and I will come and get you okay, if you don’t things are just going to get worse.”

“Promise you’ll stay there.”

“I promise.”


	19. Confrontations

Steve went in first, she couldn’t hear them but they were both shouting at each other. It seemed that Steve won as he walked out holding the door open for Zoey to walk in. She stood in front of the person that she once relied on, hands shaking and nerves heightened. “You haven’t been going to school.” She shook her head “do you know how hard I tried to get you in that school? For you to throw it all away!”

As an instinct her hand nearly raised but she could do this, she had to do this. “I’m sorry.” He shook his head at her still not looking at her, like he couldn’t stand the sight of her “you should be sorry! I don’t understand why you would just not go to school for two weeks!” Her hand rose to the side, her chest started moving faster. 

“You don’t understand! You’re pathetic! You haven’t wasted a glance at me for nearly three months! You acted like you cared and then acted like I wasn’t a part of your life!” She felt someone grab her arms and try to take her out of the room, she wasn’t worried about hurting anyone anymore, she was too upset, she wasn’t angry she was distraught. “No let go! He needs to hear this! Let me go! I hate you! I hate you Tony Stark! You’re the worst parent figure I’ve ever had! At least Mr Kinder acknowledged me! I fucking hate you! I hate you. I hate you.” Her voice trailed off as she was breaking to the floor being held up by Steve who was dragging her out. 

Tony couldn’t look. He was stupid, he was pathetic. She relied on him, she trusted him and he broke that he broke everything. He could still hear her sobs and Steve trying his hardest to calm her down. That should be him helping her but he found himself glued to his seat. Too scared to get up.

“I’m so sorry Zoey, I’m so sorry that was a stupid idea. I’m so sorry.” He held his arms around the girl while she sobbed into his chest “I hate him. I really hate him.” Steve didn’t reply just shushing her trying to comfort her, they stayed like that for longer than both would care to admit. When the crying stopped Steve looked down “You alright now?” She nodded painting a smile on her face. “Go and sit with Nat for a bit I just have to talk to Tony for a minute.” 

Zoey walked away but passed Nat’s room and to her own. She didn’t want to talk to anyone anymore. She hadn’t had an outburst like that in years, she was drained completely drained with life. So when one of her friends texted her with an escape she climbed out of her window. 

Steve walked to Nat’s room and knocked on the door “yeah?” 

“Where’s Zoey?”

“I don’t know, why?”

“She had an argument with Tony and wouldn’t calm down so I told her to go to your room.”

“She never came here, go check her room.” He did and when he was greeted with a gaping open window and no Zoey it’s fair to say he panicked. “Not here Nat, she’s not here. What do we do I have no idea where she went. We’ve lost her. We’ve lost her.” 

“No we haven’t.” So they both went looking for her, they could do this couldn’t they? They were avengers after all. They didn’t even make it to the Cars before Steve recurved a call. “Oh My God! Is this Captain America! Zoey! Zoey! Zoey! Is she okay? Hey Zoey how do you know Captain America? He’s my I dunno really! It’s funny really! I know Captain America! Ha ha I know the avengers! Ah shit can he hear us?” He just hung up. 

“She’s fourteen Nat I’m not going to be easy on her. Fourteen. Seven more years till it’s legal she that’s half of her life she needs to live again till she can drink.”

“She’s fifteen next month.”

“That makes it no better!”

“Just don’t go in and embarrass her please. She already has a shit show of a guardian don’t need to add you to that list. You know what I think I’ll go and now get her.” Natasha said as they pulled up to the house, kids were piling in and out, the people coming out looked like they were going to pass out any minute. She opened the door “Won’t be long.” Steve his his face behind his hand, he didn’t want to be seen by a load of drunken kids.

Natasha nearly threw up at the smell, it was sweat mixed with alcohol mixed with some sort of drugs and god knows what else. She got close to Zoey and tapped her shoulder “Hey Zoey.” She smiled like she was a surprise to her. 

Zoey just replied with a harsh intake of breath “Look who is here! Guys look! Look! Look!” But before people could look Natasha was dragging her out and opening the door for her. “Are you kidnapping me? Where are you going to take me? I’ve always wondered what it feels like to be kidnapped. Steve!” Natasha only laughed at the innocence of the kid, she didn’t know the storm coming her way. “Zoey.” He said in a depressed and disappointed tone.

“What’s wrong Steve? Are you okay?”

“You’re fourteen. What do you think you were doing?! I get that you’re going through something with Tony but that doesn’t give you permission to start acting like this. I let the bunking slide, but this.”

“I’m sorry. I wanted to escape.” Both adults turned round thinking that she had been acting drunk but when she said “You’re not actually kidnapping me right? I was joking.” They knew that she was in fact drunk.

That night was start of a slippery slope that Zoey found herself upon.


	20. Lost

The lights could’ve caused anyone to go dizzy. The music was loud enough to make you go deaf. The crowds of people was enough to make anyone claustrophobic. But this is where Zoey was her happiest, she felt safe in this clearly dangerous environment. With a drink sloshing in her hand she danced like an idiot with her friends, screaming the lyrics to songs she barely knew. She was happy, She was finally happy.

She dragged her friends to sit on a couch with her, she felt particularly ill after non-stop jumping up and down. Some boy care and sat next to her, her friends got up and walked away winking as they left, but she just glared at them for help. His hand instantly reached for her cheek, the smell of alcohol was prominent in his breath. If she was sober she would have cared, stopped maybe even walked away. But she had got to a point of no return.

There was people making out in every corner and Zoey and this boy now added to this list. She stopped the kiss, feeling physically sick she walked to get another drink. Her red cup was filled to the brim, she drunk it all in one to get the taste of that boy out of her mouth. And once again she filled her cup up and found her friends again. Some song she had never heard of came on so she shouted “Hey! I’m going to the toilet!” to her friends. They offered to go with her but she shook it off she’d be fine.

She hadn’t realised how many people were there until she walked through them all, alone. As she reached the toilet the line made her want to cry but she leant against the wall and waited and waited. “Hey Zoey.” She turned her head to see a boy she had never really seen before “uh hi?” He smiled and nodded to her. “So what are you doing?”

“Going to the toilet what does it look like I’m doing?” He laughed subtly at her, still looking dead into her eyes “asking for it.” She scowled at him, ready to hit him but before she could he had his mouth on hers and was touching her in all the wrong places. She somehow managed to kick him “What the fuck?! You’re a fucking idiot, you don’t just do that you pervert.” Before she knew it he was back on his feet with his fists in the air, she laughed to herself about how dumb he looked. “You wanna fight? Me? Sure.” In one punch he was unconscious and she was kicked out on the door step. 

She grabbed her phone and dialled Nat’s number but there was no reply, then Steve’s no reply, then Clint’s no reply, then wanda’s no reply, then even Steve’s new friend Sam but no reply - she phoned everyone in the compound no reply. Except one. She dialled Tony and he picked up straight away - what a coincidence. “You alright, kid?” She hadn’t heard his concerned voice in so long; they had become a bit more civil now but they weren’t what they were like before. He was never like this. “Can you pick me up?”

“Yeah sure.” Tony was reminded of a night nearly six years ago the way Zoey was crying and begging him to pick her him, it shook him to the core. Zoey didn’t know why she was crying, she tried to rub the tears away but more just filled their place. Why was she crying? She stared ahead, tears clouding her vision, the street lights were now just masses of light glaring at her. Why was she crying? Why couldn’t she stop crying? When she was sick on the step everyone assumed it was because she was so drunk- but the emotions churned up her inside. She wasn’t even drunk anymore having sat outside for three quarters of an hour just drinking water she was almost normal.

The tears never stopped. 

A flashy car pulled up outside the house and before she knew it Tony was helping her up and practically carrying her to the car, as soon as she sat in the passenger seat she started sobbing uncontrollably. Why was she crying? Tony drove away from the house and all the people knowing she might have gotten embarrassed. The sound of her sobs clouded his mind it reminded him too much of that night six years ago.

As the car stopped in a quiet place, Tony turned to Zoey. But Zoey kept in her position: her knees tucked to her chin and her face resting upon them - the exact same position that she occupied on that night. She was barely recognisable now, if you saw her that night and now you wouldn’t think that it was the same person. She went through a lot and because of it hated herself, changed herself. Her hair was lighter, skin darker, body slimmer, face always had a layer of makeup on; people would think Tony was overanalysing but he knew - he knew she wasn’t just ‘experimenting’ he knew she was struggling. And he hated that it took him this long to do anything.

She was now shaking and still sobbing, Tony put his jacket around her shoulders - not to keep her warmer than her few clothes could but to comfort her, tell her that he was there. She didn’t react to the gesture her figure just relaxed a small amount. Tony knew she wasn’t up for talking and he didn’t want to make her so he drove them both home. The rain making a calm environment. The sobs of Zoey had turned into sniffs but Tony knew she was still crying, she just didn’t want to show any weak side. She wasn’t that girl anymore.

The sound of gravel told her that she was home, the cold air hitting her side told her that the door was open someone inviting her out, the comforting hand on her shoulder told her she was safe. She unfolded from her position and slowly stepped out of the car, as soon as Tony saw her disheveled figure he instantly hugged her. Just wanted to protect her forever. She cried into his shoulder, making his shirt damp but he didn’t care anymore. “Zo. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.” That nickname had only been used by him, she didn’t let anyone else use it. 

She pulled away from the hug, wiped away tears and took a deep breath, it broke Tony how okay she looked almost like she hadn’t been crying for over half an hour non stop. She had done this multiple times before, she was experienced in this, pretending to be okay and maybe she learnt from the best - Tony himself. She handed Tony back his jacket with a smile, he wanted to say something but he didn’t want to upset her even more. 

The Compound was silent, the only sound was Zoey’s heels tapping on the floor. She still didn’t speak clearly too worried about how weak her voice may sound. Walking straight to her room, Tony watched with tears in his eyes, he just wanted her to be okay. The door slowly shut and Tony lowered himself into the sofa switching the TV on. It wasn’t long before he heard a door open, and Zoey walked down the hall - dressed in long, warm pyjamas, no makeup on and tear stained cheeks. Tony broke at the view and slowly spoke “c’mere kid.” She practically ran to his side, his arm didn’t even question being around her shoulder, she didn’t even question putting her head on his chest. 

“I know I’ve been an idiot these past months and I can’t apologise enough. But the reason I’m here is for you to talk to me. Anything on your mind, and I mean anything I don’t care if you stepped on a snail and get upset about it you come and tell me, okay? I mean that.”

“It’s just I-I...”

“It’s alright there’s no rush I’ll watch this while you think of what you want to say.” A few minutes passed and he heard a very small voice next to him but he didn’t have to properly hear it to know what she said.

“I’ve lost myself.”


	21. Perfect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a fill in chapter because the Drama is hurting my brain. And I can’t have constant arguments as much as I enjoy writing them.

Zoey looked at the mirror, the girl staring back at her looked happy, and full of life. Zoey on the other hand could no longer go a day without crying. She thought of her family - what would they think of her? Would they even be able to recognise her? Tears fell down her face and the girls in the mirrors, maybe she wasn’t happy either. Her fathers last words ran through her mind ‘stay true to yourself and don’t let anyone change that’ she betrayed him. His last words were a waste, she didn’t even listen to him, she was stupid.

She sat on the floor in front of the mirror with her head in her knees, praying for all the voices and people to leave her mind. She heard the door open and someone slowly walk over to her, she didn’t look. She was pulled into someone’s side who just sat down next to her, “You’re okay, it’s getting better.”

This was like a routine for Tony now, he was alerted at least once a day that Zoey was upset and she would always be sat on the floor crying. It was killing him because he couldn’t help her, she had to do this herself but she whenever she was nearly there she had a bad day and fell to the start again. He tried getting a therapist but she just sat in silence, not wanting to sound weak in front of anyone. 

“It’s not. It’s getting worse.”

“It will if you keep telling yourself that. Look at me Zoey. Zoey. Remember that night about three weeks ago and I told you to come and talk to me? You haven’t. I have to rely on FRIDAY so tell me, and it’s going to get worse if you let yourself get to the point where you can’t stand anymore.”

“I just don’t want to bother you. I’ve already caused you enough trouble, I don’t want to annoy you.”

“You are no trouble. Don’t ever think that, you are the best thing to happen to me and I think you don’t realise that enough.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologising for doing nothing wrong, I should be the one apologising to you. So are you going to tell me what’s up today.”

“I hate her.” She pointed to the mirror, Tony knew what she meant. “She ruined everything, she went against everything I am. She made me a different person, she manipulated me. I hate her. She went against the last thing my dad told me, she ruined the last thing I had of them.”

“You don’t have to be that girl. You can be whoever you want, I don’t care if you walk around in an animal onesie or all black. As long as you are happy with who you are, no-one should care and if they do they don’t deserve to know you. Because you, Zoey, are the most amazing beautiful and intelligent fifteen year old I’ve ever known, and no-one should make you change that.” 

She rested her head on his shoulder, feeling more content with life than she did only a few minutes ago. “Thank you.” She was tired more emotionally than physically so she slowly fell asleep on his shoulder, Tony, too scared to move just sat there until she woke up. Because waking up alone was not something she needed right now.


	22. Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you didn’t skip to this chapter, you don’t need to read this.
> 
> Hello, welcome to 22 chapters in, let’s Recap...  
> Zoey Daniels phoned Tony Stark, after her parents died, by accident. She’s nine. But he went to see if she was okay, blah de blah then she is in a really rough orphanage till 2012. New York happens she’s dumb and runs out, ends up saving like 15 people from a building collapsing, tells Tony bout missile. Then he leaves her again lol.
> 
> Then she went to school someone comes to fight her but she doesn’t fight back, but she gets kicked out. Then she got kicked out of her orphanage, lives on street. Practically dies. Coincidently Tony finds her yay. Then she is getting better and Tony goes and runs stark industries for a bit, but social services take her away. 
> 
> The orphanage is nicer. People adopt her. Dad turns out to be Hydra, wants her brain. Abused her. Practically died again. Tony saved her. 
> 
> She’s gets all pissy because Tony doesn’t listen to her, she runs away. But Tony finds her like 15 mins later, she nearly kills him by accident. Hydra man that adopted her wants her back, so Tony kills him. Then Zoey sees that the Compound is defo gonna be under attack. So she runs like the devil to save everyone. Ends up killing like 20 people lol. Then gets all depressed and shit.
> 
> Slowly things get better then Tony starts ignoring her. Then she goes to a party. Steve and Nat find out and go to pick her up, then she gets popular because of them. Then she gets addicted to alcohol. At 15 (that was a mistake lol). Then she is at a party gets all emo then phones everyone but no-one is picking up so she phoned Tony who is like “sure kid.” Then she cries for about 3 chapters. 
> 
> Then she’s like I hate that mirror being a dramatic lil queen. Then Tony’s like but you’re cool, so now she thinks she’s cool. Here we are. The start of civil war. Thank fuck that’s over.
> 
> I gave up being serious writing that which really contrasts how depressing the book is lol.

Zoey sat at her desk skim reading a book to quickly answer questions on it, so she could go and eat. Her life had got significantly better after she and Tony grew close again, he was always there to talk to her. She also got closer with Steve and Nat and even though she apologised to them so many times they always shook it off like she didn’t cause them tonnes of stress. 

She heard shouts, but carried on reading then more shouts, hushed whispers and more shouts in a circle. She walked out to the kitchen she heard Steve say “Are you saying it's our fault?” The atmosphere was very tense so she decided to stay hidden behind a door.

“I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict… breeds catastrophe. Oversight… Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand.” Vision spoke proving Steve wrong or something, she still didn’t know what this was all about.

Next one to speak was Rhodey she didn’t completely catch what he was saying but her eyes diverted to Tony who was slouching on a chair with his hands over his eyes. She shook her head, everyone was so serious and passionate about this but he didn’t even look too bothered.

They carried on speaking but she didn’t understand and it was irritating her to the next level. She usually knew what was going to happen but she had yet to see this play out in her mind. She hadn’t heard anything from her mind in a while and it worried her, did she lose it when she lost herself? She stepped out of the shadows “What’s happening?” All heads were turned to her direction, but she just stood there not bothered.

“Zoey go back to your room, I’ll tell you later.” She shook her head at Tony, she wasn’t going to stay in her room when something clearly catastrophic was happening, because arguments were never completely serious. “No I think she should stay, she is probably going to become one of us in the future I think she should get a say.” 

“Steve I said leave her out of it! I don’t want to drag her into this shit show, she shouldn’t have to worry about stuff like this she’s just a kid!” 

“A kid who can kill over ten people at once and see a future that we can’t. So explain to me how she shouldn’t get a say if she is controlled by the government.” 

Zoey just stood as she watched both men get increasingly angrier, Nat made eye contact and told her to leave before these protective men with conflicting views start screaming at each other for no apparent reason. She nodded but the raised voices carried on. Her room was too close to the kitchen and all the raised voices would leave her mind. Sometimes if they got really angry she could hear all of the words.

“Tony you’re there more than you are here, you cannot make her mind up for her.” Steve was true, Tony stayed at home a lot more than he used to, and she was happy for him. Worst comes to worse he always flew over or video called her, she was happy for him. “Shut up! Just shut the fuck up! She had no-one! Now she has me, maybe I’m not around as much as I’d like to be. But do you ever think that whenever she has a bad day I’m here. I’d love to be able to live here with her all the time. But I have another life as well I can’t just forget about that.” 

The argument diverted back to the main thing they were talking about before Zoey made matters worse. She just wanted her to tell them, but they wouldn’t, they wanted to protect her and make sure she didn’t have anything to worry about. “FRIDAY what are they arguing about?”

“Classified.”

“Well override.”

“Miss Daniels you do not have the authority to do that. However I can get you in on the conversation.”

“I can here it from here thanks.” The sarcasm clear in her voice, the AI quickly left and Zoey started pacing up and down her room attempting to figure what was happening. Why when she actually needed it would her mind not tell her what was happening? The bickering abruptly stopped and she heard a chair scrape along the floor.

It must have triggered something in her brain.

Tony heard a scream and he knew whose it was, the door was slightly open so he knocked but there was no reply. Zoey had her hands over her eyes and started practically running up and down her room. “Oh my god oh my god they’re going to kill each other oh my god oh my god.” Tony just watched the event take place, there was no helping her now, she needed to sort this out. “It’s the end of all of this. Oh my god oh my god. Everyone’s gonna hate everyone.”

“Zoey.” She practically jumped out of her own skin, seeing Tony she nearly threw up. “Don’t sign actually maybe do. I don’t know. Don’t disagree. Agree on this trust me. Please agree. I can’t live without you two. Shit I’m not meant to say that. Just agree please.” But Zoey knew she was too late.


	23. Hope

The next days and weeks Zoey wished she could change, because it made everything more difficult. The moment she saw the building being bombed and knowing Nat was in it she nearly had a heart attack, and she was watching it through a TV screen. Everyone was off fighting their own wars, which left Zoey alone with only Wanda and Vision. And she liked them and all but she just wanted everyone else back. Tony had become preoccupied with something else, so he rarely visited.

She propped herself up on the kitchen counter while they were trying to cook. “Are you scared?” Wanda shook her head “No, there is no need to be scared. What happens happens that’s life. We just need to do what we think is right.” 

“But I know what happens and I don’t like the outcome.” 

“That mind of yours needs to quiet down.” Wanda looked up at Zoey who was so clearly worrying about all of this. “Zoey listen what’s the worst thing that could happen?”

“You all die.” The emotionless tone in her voice reminded Wanda of who she once was.

“That’s not going to happen. We all love each other and however angry we get we won’t be able to kill each other, that’s impossible.”

“You speak with too much hope.” Zoey then jumped off the table walking away, leaving a bewildered Wanda and Vision behind. She knew something they didn’t and it seemed like too much stress on the fifteen year old.

She phoned Tony wanting to beg him again to not go along with this or at least calm down a little bit, she knew she needed to be talking to Steve but she didn’t have the energy. “I’m in the middle of something.”

“What?” 

Zoey heard a small voice in the background “I’m not going to Germany.” She froze, it was defiantly a kids voice.

“Who was that?”

“No-one, I’m busy.”

“Tony!” He just hung up, she threw her phone to the other side of the room and flopped on her bed, there was nothing she could do to stop the inevitable this time. She usually managed to convince someone she was right and get their help but they were all too stubborn with this. She was unable to do anything but watch the avengers tear themselves apart. 

As she hugged Tony goodbye she held on for longer than necessary, he knew something was going to happen but couldn’t bring himself to hear it. “Be good.” And he flew off. She was practically alone in the compound (Wanda and Vision were there but Tony worried that he wasn’t there), Tony made some random lady stay with Zoey in case anything happened; she knew he meant emotionally because physically Zoey would probably be the one saving her. 

“I’m going to my room.” Zoey walked off leaving the lady stood their thinking about how much this kid was like Tony. Any emotional trauma they both locked them self away. “FRIDAY you promise you will get me footage of when they get there.”

“I will have to ask Mr Stark.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?! I would’ve asked him when he was calm and not going to risk his life fighting people he loves!”

“Mr Stark does not grant you access.” 

“Of course he doesn’t, put him on.”

“Why do you want to see it all? You can’t change anything that’s going to happen. No don’t try to change my mind. Bye.” Tony was more assertive than usual, but it only made her scowl. She would find a way to see what was happening, it might be the last thing she did if Tony caught her but she was too inquisitive for her own good.

“FRIDAY any chance you could hack into this airport? You know show me the CCTV. Yeah that one.” Just as the screen was loading she heard a shout “ZOEY! Stop trying to watch!”

“I’m sorry you didn’t think I was able enough to help you.”

“That’s out of context.”

“Is it? FRIDAY, please could you get me onto the headsets.” 

“Zoey!” She scribbled out another of her fifty plans to see what was happening, the last one was to steal one of Tony’s suits and fly over to Germany and just hover in the air and watch. “FRIDAY, can you get me footage from Rhodey’s suit?”

“I’ll have to ask for permission. And with your track record...”

“I’ll take that as a no then.” She threw her notebook across her room, her mind wasn’t always right so she couldn’t tell if what she had seen would really happen. She found a ball and threw it against the ceiling while lying down on the floor, humming a song to try to take her mind of everything.

Her door opened and the ball fell straight on her stomach making her curl over in pain “Are you okay.” The strange random lady spoke. “Uh yeah I’m fine. Who are you?” 

“That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

“Well yes that’s why I’m asking you the question.”

“You’re clever.”

“You’re not if you believe that you have to tell me that you know your own name. Because I know my name as well it’s not something to brag about. Most people know their name actually.”

“You never asked me my name.”

“I’ll have you find I did. FRIDAY.”

“See you asked who I was.”

“That’s the same thing.”

“False. I could have said anything back to you.”

“If someone asked me who I was and I didn’t reply with my name but some in depth talk about my life they would think I was a fucking weirdo that’s why people answer that question with their name.”

“You have quite the way of talking for a fifteen year old.”

“I’ve had quite the life for a fifteen year old.”

“Do you hate life for that.”

“What the fuck no calm down, woman.”

“You do sound like Tony.”

“Well I would I have been enclosed in his company for quite some time, if you were you wouldn’t sound like an Angel either.”

“I guess so, do you resent him for changing you.”

“No what the actual fuck can you stop asking me what I hate. Because the only thing I hate is you right now. Can you leave me in peace please?” The lady walked out somewhat traumatised by the small conversation she had with the young stark.

“Hey Tony, that lady is a fucking weirdo.”

“Kid, I’m kind of -ow- in the middle of something.”

“Just thought you should know that she is currently in the lab shuffling through blue prints. Ask FRIDAY. I’m not lying. She’s really annoying me. Can you tell her to leave. What are you doing? Ugh I’m so bored. Can I have one of your suits?”

“No to everything, do not call me again, unless you are a second away from death or the compound is on fire.”

“What if the compound is on fire and I think I might die ? Then do I phone you one second away from death or to inform you that the compound is on fire.”

“ZOEY!”

“Alright alright keep your hair on.”


	24. Dismay

Zoey heard a loud thud and rattling from near to the kitchen, having been in the house for what felt like a year she decided to go and see any action that could be taking place. She nearly hit her head on the wall when Clint was stood Wanda next to him, both fighting against Vision. “Clint!”

“Oh hey Zoey.”

“What are you doing?”

“Going to an airport.”

“I’m coming.” 

“No you’re not, everyone will kill me. They don’t even know I’m back and to bring you into it. No. Zoey. Dammit.” Zoey locked onto his arm and he knew he couldn’t leave without her. He felt sorry for her to be honest she was left alone knowing completely what was going to happen. “FRIDAY can you tell for me to know that I’ve gone with Clint thank you!” 

“Miss Daniels I do not believe that is the best idea considering Mr Stark ordered you to stay here.”

“Well he can’t stop me now can he?” Clint rolled his eyes, she was slowly becoming a mirror image of Tony, the way she didn’t listen to people trying to protect her. She still had moments of being a young kid but usually that was overpowered with a stark type sarcastic comment.

As Zoey hopped out of the van, Steve glared at her. He had just greeted Scott - of whom Zoey had grown very fond of - Clint and Wanda. “What are you doing here?!” 

“Nice to see you too. Old people are meant to be nice, you’re not nice.”

“Zoey I don’t think you understand how serious this is.”

“Oh I think I do that’s why I’m here. I’ve seen what’s going to happen and there was no-one to change that with me just sat in the compound, I’m not going to fight anyone unless I have to I’m just going to sit on the roof and make sure no-one kills each other. It’ll be like I’m not even here.” Steve shook his head, Tony was going to flip because he was already on edge. 

“Clint what came into your mind when you let her follow you out of the building?! Did you begin to think about what might happen? Why did you do this you have just made everything ten times harder. Dammit where did she go. Never mind we don’t have time.”

Zoey perched on the roof of the airport watching Tony beg Steve to talk this out. “Hey!” Zoey jumped a mile nearly falling off the roof. “Oh my god what are you doing here?”

“Waiting for Mr Stark to need me.” Zoey hadn’t been keeping up with the news but she knew who Spider-Man was, everyone was. Practically everyone knew about the web-slinging spandex wearing hero. “You know Tony?”

“No not really, well, I only met him the other day, he was at my house when I came back from school, it was really weird.” She recognised his voice but she couldn’t pin it to a face, just as she was going to reply Tony shouted “Underoos!” And Peter slung off. She sat on the roof twiddling her thumbs, she wanted to fight but she didn’t have control over her powers and she might accidentally kill someone.

Tony was seeing who was in the airport and assigning people partners when his gaze fell upon Zoey. “Rogers! What the hell! I told you specifically not to bring her into this! First Wanda now Zoey! My kid! Are you out of your mind!” He didn’t even wait for Steve to reply just flew up to Zoey hovering in front of her. “Have anything to say to me?” Zoey shook her head “Why are you here?! I told you to stay in that building! No don’t interrupt me-”

“Move to the right.” Tony obeyed as she stuck her hand out catching one of clint’s arrows while shouting “Do not aim for me!” Her focus diverted back to an angry Tony Stark “I don’t have time for this but we will be talking about this later, don’t you run away.” 

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” She smirked at him as he flew of leaving her sat on the roof fiddling with the arrow, waiting for this all to be over. She couldn’t wait to go home but it wouldn’t be the same, there would be no Steve and if it played out like her mind No Nat. They were always there for her even when Tony wasn’t, there was no way she could stay at the compound without them. But she was going to have to.

The fight played out exactly like it did in her mind, which was not a good thing. They all pulled the same moves and fought the same people, they all fell at exactly the right time, they all played by the rules for the first time. Spider-man was being dragged out of the building by redwing screaming at exactly the right point. She laughed to herself, he was defiantly a kid, his voice, his body and just the way that he was screamed kid. He acted like he was like the avengers but he was more like her then then, clueless.

Just as soon and it started it ended.

Spider-Man was lying on the ground. Rhodey was unconscious beyond the Airport. Steve and the man with the metal arm had left. It all run smoothly, just as her mind had wanted. Her phone started ringing “Zo can you go check is Parker’s alright? I need to stay with Rhodey.”

“Who now?”

“Dammit forget I said that, Spider-Man.” 

“Did you say Parker?” But Tony just hung up, he forgot that he wasn’t meant to tell anyone about Peter and who he was, but she was going to find out sooner rather than later. She hopped off the roof to go and check if he was okay. 

“Peter Parker fancy seeing you here.” He tried to grab his mask that was next to him and cover his face but Zoey pulled it away. “I know now so there is no point trying to hide it from me. Out of anyone at school I did not think you, like anyone.”

“Thanks?”

“Not a compliment.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket “yeah Tony he’s alive. Unfortunately.” She smiled at him but he just rolled the other way. “No you have to be nice to him.”

“No I don’t.”

“Yes you do, why don’t you like him?”

“He bailed on me once, never even apologised, so I haven’t forgiven him if he maybe said sorry I guess I’d be fine with him.” She short him daggers but he was still not looking at her, she hung up. “Get up, I have to get you out of here. Stop acting weak, get up. Oh my god.” She held her arm out, trying to help him much to her dismay, she really really didn’t like this kid. “Hold onto my arm, I’m not holding it out to look like a scarecrow.” She practically lifted him off the ground.

“You’re strong.”

“Yeah and you’re not telling anyone at school about it. They already know too much about me, not even your Ned.”

“You can’t tell anyone about me.”

“They won’t believe me, I don’t have to worry.”


	25. Useless

“Peters on his way home.” Tony glared at Zoey as she spoke, she had just disobeyed him and he was really not happy about it. Zoey should have known better but she couldn’t deal with not knowing what was happening. “I told you to go with him. Happy would then take you home after him. I have a lot to deal with on the flight back and I don’t need you chattering in my ear.”

“Shame because I’m here now. And you won’t leave me at home again.”

“Yes I will. I can just lock all the windows and doors and tell FRIDAY to not let you out.”

“I will find a way out.”

“Stop being difficult!” She followed him back to the plane, he sat as far away from her as possible. His angry stares didn’t go unnoticed though, she just waved back at him every time; he was irritated but he made her this way, this sarcastic careless kid - was a product of his. He missed when she was shy and introverted compared to her current personality. That was the exact same as his. He hated himself so surely that means he should hate her. 

He threw his paper down on the table knowing that he needed to have an actual conversation with Zoey about what she had done. “Zoey.” She turned her head raising an eyebrow. “We need to talk about what you did, leaving the compound without any permission. You could have got seriously hurt ... like what happened to Rhodey. Do you know how that could have effected your life. I don’t mean to be horrible but I have to do all of this to protect you.”

“I know, it’s just frustrating because you let Peter fight. He’s younger than me, I mean the same age right now but usually younger. It’s like you don’t think I’m capable.”

“You’re too powerful, you don’t know how to control or fight yet, you haven’t been stable enough to train. I’ve thought about it for god knows how long but then you have a breakdown and you’re not ready again. You have the power to kill people but you don’t have the ability to fight.”

“So I’m useless?”

“No I never said that.”

“You implied that. I’m only useful if you want loads of people to die.” She frowned at him quickly looking to the side of the plane. She was a murderer, there was nothing to change that, she was granted with the power to kill. All she could do was kill or protect there was no middle ground.

“Happy’s given Peter your number.”

“What?! Why?!”

“In case of emergency.”

“What emergency could possibly happen that the dumbass would need to phone me in? If anything happened to me I wouldn’t phone him. I’d prefer to phone a criminal than him.”

“What do you have against him?”

“Everything.”

“Zoey.”

“We were doing an essay together, yeah, you heard the together part. So I wrote six pages on genetically modified crops, nearly killing myself from talking about golden rice for so long. He had to write three pages on genetically modified animals and how it could help our future. Half the amount. And he just doesn’t do it. He had a month. A whole month to tell me that he couldn’t do it, because to be honest I didn’t care he didn’t do it, it’s just that he didn’t tell me that he hadn’t done it till the morning. I could’ve done it. My part got an A+ but due to his non existent part we didn’t pass. So now we have to retake the whole course. Because I need to pass Biology. So because of him my GPA was bought down and I have to sit through the same lessons again. That’s why I hate him. And also he doesn’t talk to me, when we have to sit next to each other. He just stutters.”

“You can’t hate someone for stuttering and being nervous.”

“You can.”

“Well it’s not a valid reason.”

“Why not.”

“Because Zoey just because.”

“You’ve grown fond of him.”

“He reminds me of what you used to be like.”

“Before I turned into this?” Zoey signalled to herself, Tony knew she meant her new personality which she hated. And her knew appearance which she also hated.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“It sure sounds that way. Do you think I want to be like this? Because I don’t, I’d give anything to be the girl I used to be. I’d give anything to unsee everything I’ve seen. I’d give anything to take these powers away. Because I miss being like him, happy and innocent. But just wait a few years he’ll become me. Another Stark kid, thrown into the world of Superhero’s, getting lost hence losing themself.”

“I meant he’s lost a lot, like you. He needs someone to talk to everyday, he had his auntie but can’t tell her anything about Spider-Man. I hoped you could talk to him seeing as you attend the same school. But I guess not, seeing as you’ve taken a hating to him.”

“Good.” They stayed silent for the rest of the flight, Zoey just staring out of the window, Tony flicking through papers, clearly worrying about everything. Now that Peter was in his life he had another kid to worry about. With him, Zoey, Rhodey and the accords he was unsure how he would be able to survive.


	26. Class

 “Wake up!” Zoey flicked Peter on the head in the middle of their biology lesson, he had to listen - they were lab partners again for some reason the teacher thought it would be clever. Peter still looked the other way, he was acting more awkward then he usually did. “What’s wrong with you today?”

“ ‘m just tired.” His head was still lied on the table the teacher not paying too much attention because for all she knew Zoey and Peter would pass, she didn’t have to worry. “No you’re not, there’s something wrong. You’re acting like a sulky little bitch.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Don’t lie to me.” She raised her eyebrow paying attention to the lesson again, but having already heard all of the information she just doodled on her paper. They were both silent for a while longer until Peter spoke up. “C-Can I ask you a-a question.” She nodded “Does Mr Stark like me?”

“Sure does, had a go at me for saying I hated you. So yes sometimes feels like he prefers you over me, he’s only known you for what three days.”

“I’m sorry, I never meant for that.”

“It’s not your fault, it’s probably mine I’ve been stupid and cruel recently.” They both turned their heads away again. Why on earth was she being nice to him, she had an extra class now all because of him. Maybe it was because of Tony saying that they weren’t too different, or maybe because he was Spider-Man so had an excuse. She didn’t know.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, the teacher still not looking her way she read it and immediately swore under her breath it read: _“Hey, going away for a bit. Not long. I’ll be back in three days max. Happy is going to pick you up, ask Peter if he needs a lift.”_

She replied with: _“No you can’t go. I mean I can’t really stop you but just don’t Die okay, I think I’d miss you. Also does he have to come?”_

A text was replied as soon as Zoey sent hers: _“Yes, I don’t want anything happening to him while I’m not there. I’m already worried about you setting the compound alight or deciding to go on a walk and getting attacked by bears.”_

_“Bears really?”_

_“Have you asked him?”_ Zoey looked up from her phone and next to her where Peter was definitely asleep, she hit his arm. “Parker. Do you need a lift home. Tony’s worrying and Happy’s picking me up wants me to ask if you need a lift.”

“No I’m fine, I can just walk.” 

_“He said that he is fine and will walk home. I think he’s scared of Happy, don’t blame him the man hates kids.”_

_”Tell him that I order him to get a lift home. And yes Happy does hate kids I’m having to give him more money the more time I’m gone, to look after you two.”_

 

“Dad No... Tony said that it’s an order.” She had never called Tony dad even though he was her only parental/ father figure anymore, it had never even entered her mind to call him that. But it just slipped off her tongue like it was normal. Like he was actually her dad.

Peter smiled and nodded agreeing to the lift as long as nobody was going out of their way. “You have to deal with Happy I don’t think you’re going to be thanking anyone. He hates me. I cause him too much stress always going on about how I’m going to cause him an early death and how he has mini heart attacks whenever he hears my name.” 

“He’s not overly fond of me either.”

”I don’t really think he’s too keen on anyone, except Tony. He likes Tony even though he told me that he planned his assassination in his dream once. He’s a strange man, I don’t completely understand him. It’s like he looks like she should be a warm and cuddly teddy bear but he’s like a fucking brick wall.” 

“Does he ever smile?”

”I’ve seen him smile a few times. Only when I ran into a lamp post or when Tony turned into a ten year old for a night - Happy couldn’t control his laughter. His laugh is haunting but also the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.

Zoey didn’t realise she was having her first real conversation with Peter, it flowed so easily, like they were born to talk to each other. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. They both had no-one to talk to about all of this being told to keep it a secret; it was nice to have someone to talk to. Especially for Peter his excitement had worn him out and he needed to talk to someone about what had happened; considering Zoey was actually there she was a great candidate.

The lesson abruptly ended along with the school day. Both Peter and Zoey walked to the car park to find Happy’s black car waiting for them, he looked at them scowled then put his sunglasses back on. “This will be interesting.” Zoey spoke as they walked down the stairs. Happy hated kids so to be in the company of two of them was his idea of hell. 

Zoey was the first to open the door and sit down, Peter a bit more worried and sceptical. “Hey Happy!” She did her seatbelt up as he glanced at her and the currently shuffling about Peter next to her. “I can’t believe this - Two of you. He’s more quiet than you and he gives me a headache. What are you doing? No! I don’t want drugs!”

”Happy calm down their for your headache, I’m not going to give you a pill that makes you go crazy when you’re driving me home.”

”You stress me out.”

”Nice to know. Do you want one or what?”

”No I wasn’t being serious he’s only given me a headache one, you on the other hand, every other hour.”

”You don’t even have much to do with me. How can I stress you out that much I barely talk to you everyday.”

”When Tony stresses about you he phones me telling me it all then I have a little heart attack on the other end of the phone because I think you are attempting to send my boss to his grave early.”

”I’m not that bad.”

”you make him look like an angel.” Happy pointed to Peter who was watching the bickering take place with amusement plastered on his face. He found the way that Zoey was so intriguing, she was very caring but at the same time didn’t care, she was very calm but at the same time very angry, she was very kind but at the same time mean.

The slow rolling of the partition made Zoey start laughing to herself, but Happy just looked at her in the rear view mirror as it went up. “I know you love me Hap.”

”I don’t give you permission to call me that.”


	27. Fix it

“No the thing is I told you to be careful, look at the state of you! I didn’t expect to come back and see you in a cast!”

“I didn’t expect you to come back in this state.”

“No Zoey this is serious!” Tony hadn’t even been gone that long but Zoey had managed to break her arm and her ribs in the small span of time that she was alone in the compound. She hadn’t purposely gone out to get injured but she found herself in a fight with someone who was trying to robbing an old lady.

“It’s not that bad.” He looked at her arm, and the bed that she had been lying in for a day, too uncomfortable to move. Tony wanted to hit her head against a wall to try and knock some sense into her, to tell her that he was only trying to keep her safe.

“How did you find yourself in front of a man robbing an old lady in the compound? Did they both break in? Or was there another accident you would like to tell me about? Maybe hacking into my security and opening the doors?”

“I was bored. No-one is here anymore. Everyone’s practically criminals, well all the people that I talk to anyway. You left me here with Happy, who did nothing but sulk.”

“I let you have Peter over.”

“STOP TRYING TO FORCE A FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN US!”

“That’s it! You’re grounded! For a month! Or until you learn how to act around me and how to behave. Happy will be taking you to and from school everyday and I’ll be here with Rhodey everyday so don’t you dare think of running away!”

“A month! One month?!” Her door was slammed by Tony, she just picked her phone up to text her friends, when Tony walked back in and snatched it out of her hands “No phone.” She didn’t reply just crossed her arms and stared at the ceiling like a petulant child. Because technically she was still a child. Maybe this is how she should be acting, instead of acting too old for her age. Maybe this could help her get ungrounded.

“FRIDAY! I’m hungry!” She would have gone to make food but she could barely walk, her ribs hurt so much. “Sorry Miss Daniels, Mr Stark said not to respond to you, unless you are dying.”

“Tell him I’m dying of hunger.”

“Very well.” Zoey smirked, she could annoy her way out of this, Tony may hate her after this but at least she could go out. Tony’s voice shouted through the AI “Zoey! Stop manipulating FRIDAY! You get three meals a day! I’m busy anyway. If you are really hungry get up.”

“MY RIBS!”

“Then you’re not really hungry.” She screamed into a pillow then proceeded to throw it at the window, the force of her throw made a small crack in the window. She turned it over and found a small bouncy ball in the pillow. “Oh shit.”

Her door flung open not even two minutes later “GIVE ME STRENGTH! What on earth are you doing?! Are you now breaking my windows to get out. Because that won’t work they are bullet proof, hence they are Zoey proof.”

“I didn’t mean to...”

“Sure you didn’t.” He went to leave but before he did, he threw her a packet of chips. She smiled, he was too soft to her he wasn’t able to be strict, her eyes and pleading managed to get him to do whatever she said. Tony knew it was wrong, but he was trying to be responsible it just wasn’t working.

An hour passed and by this point Zoey was already going stir crazy. The time was 1:30 in the afternoon - she could be at school but her stupid ribs meant she was unable to. She put her hand over her Ribs acting like she was breaking them again, she was fairly frustrated by this point. She heard a snap then a relief of pain. “oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god! FRIDAY get Tony this is an emergency!”

“He said to never receive call off you. Sorry.” Zoey stood up, there was practically no pain, obviously a small amount of pain but nothing compared to what there was before. She held her hand over her cast, another crack and she screamed again. She frantically ran to Tony’s lab, nearly falling over when she got there, but she grabbed onto the door handle to support herself from falling to the ground. This made Tony look over to the door, Zoey was practically jumping on the spot when she was knocking on the door. “What? Why are you acting like that?”

“I can fix myself!”

“What?”

“Look nothings broken now, I fixed myself! Watch!” Zoey got a knife from one of the draws in Tony’s cupboard, she put in too close to her skin; causing Tony to jump out of his skin and nearly have a heart attack and shout “ZOEY PUT THE KNIFE DOWN!”

“No! Watch!” As she put the knife into her skin causing a cut, Tony cursed under his breath - out of all kids in the world he had this one - she was either sarcastic and lethargic or hyper and uncontrollable. She placed her hand over it and slowly the cut closed up and there wasn’t even a scar to take its place.

“See! I didn’t know I could do that! Isn’t it cool!”

“Yep, very cool now you can go back to your room. Or away from here I need to concentrate, you’re in a bubbly mood and I can’t deal with that much energy right now. Go and annoy Happy or something.”

“ ‘Kay.” She ran out of the lab, Tony watched in amusement, he had lost everything recently, he lost his team but most importantly he lost his friends. But Zoey was still there dragging him through the tough times just like he dragged her through her tough times.

“Happy!” He was clearly asleep because his hand quickly moved from his eyes and he nearly fell off the chair that he was sat on. “What on earth why are you walking!?”

“I fixed myself! I did it! Watch look follow me! Happy get up! Happy look!” He walked sluggishly behind her but nearly ran when she picked up a knife. Tony walked to the kitchen when he heard Happy shout “ZOEY PUT THE KNIFE DOWN! TONY! TONY! COME AND GET YOUR KID! PUT IT DOWN!” Tony smiled at _his_ kid, he smiled, she was _his_  kid. 

This chatty, witty, sarcastic, childish, happy kid was his. This kid who was currently smiling while cutting her skin, Happy was glaring at Tony expecting him to do something. “Stop looking at him! Watch my arm!” 

“Tony are you going to do anything?!” He shook his head still watching the wide smile on Zoey’s face. “Look I fixed it Happy! I made it normal! I can fix myself.” Happy with his hand still over his heart replied with a very serious “Great can you fix your brain now?”


	28. Groundings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry is this me writing a chapter without anyone getting hurt? Who the hell have I turned into.
> 
> Also if you are enjoying this book please say because I kinda think no-one is enjoying it and if that’s the case then I’ll stop it because I don’t really wanna waste time. But I enjoy writing this book ugh idk.

It had been three weeks of Zoey being grounded and at this point Tony nearly let her off a week early just for his own sanity. He had never spent so much time with her, he grew to love her more and slowly he saw glimmers of what she would have been like as a child. He watched her with a look he would have never thought he would have seen upon his face, was he proud? Was he happy to be a parental figure? He didn’t know but all he did know is the years he spent worrying if the kid hated him or not he regretted. It’s like Zoey finally became herself, put down the grown up facade and acted like who she was; which Tony had realised was a very childish kid. 

“Who gave you coffee? Stop. Stand still. Who told you how to work the coffee machine?” The shrug of Zoey’s shoulders said all Tony needed to know, she did it herself. Zoey had quickly drunk a whole mug and was currently bouncing on the seat, hands shaking. “I have no idea how you stomached all that alcohol considering you get this frantic on caffeine.” Their minds both diverted to a time not long ago when they were both in a bad place. They weren’t together when they needed each other and that meant that they both broke. 

“No, Alcohol made me depressed and angry, it made me hate everyone but it made me a bit happier in the moment. Caffeine on the other hand is an all time high.” Tony regretted the time he didn’t talk to the kid, get her back to her old ways - because he had to deal with addiction and he wouldn’t want anyone to go through that least of all Zoey, but she did and it was his fault.

“Wait for the crash.” 

“I’ll just have more!” There it was the addictive tendency that he assumed she learnt from him, soon she would be drinking endless amounts of coffee each day just to make herself feel better. “No you won’t.” In response Zoey just jerked her head to the side, her lips in a line and her eyebrow raised. Tony knew she would find a way, she always did.

“School is making me join the decathlon team. I don’t want to. It’s boring and full of nerds.” Tony laughed, she was very much what he was like when he was her age. Her sulky expression made Tony laugh even though she was staring at his computer and blue prints.

“You’re a nerd.”

“Not.” The word not always made them both laugh ever since Tony became a ten year old, and they argued with that word for nearly half an hour, turning Steve slowly insane. 

“You are very much so anyway what’s the worst that could happen. Why don’t you just go for one day? See how it is. It may not be as bad as it seems.”

“You sound like an old dad who wants their kid to join some club because they’re addicted to drugs. And you’re meant to back me up not make me go.”

“It might be a good opportunity to make friends.” Tony smiled and started laughing when Zoey hit his arm, he always knew how to make her angry happy, act like a responsible adults is all that it took. “I don’t need friends they disappoint me.” Zoey said while walking out of the lab. 

“Wait. What?! Are you okay?”

“Vine.” She said as she held her middle finger up at him while walking past the window of his lab. She also knew how to annoy him, make him worry about something and then it ends up being some stupid reference that he clearly doesn’t understand. 

His phone dinged at 7:00 with a message popping up in capitals ‘I WANT PIZZA.’ He then scrolled down a few more messages then ten then twenty and there was nearly thirty messages off Zoey asking for food, he lost track of time too busy trying to fix unbroken things in his lab he forgot about food. 

It was about an hour later when he left the Lab and even though he said he was ‘just finishing up’ Zoey had still waited an hour for some goddamn food because Tony forgot to put an order in. She was sat on the empty couch. Both Zoey and Tony couldn’t stand how empty the compound was, without the majority of the team it was usually silent and abandoned. 

The TV was pelting out an episode of The Office (Goodbye Toby pt 2) Zoey sat in front of the TV nearly in tears of laughter, so when Tony stood in front of it She practically screamed the place down. “Just pause it. Oh my god, what do you want to eat?”

“Pizza I told you that from 5:45.”

“There’s food in here!” Tony said with his head practically in the nearly empty fridge. Zoey paused the TV again and got up and stood behind him. “Oh yes carrot with a bit of ketchup on, what a nice sounding dinner.” She was true the only thing that wasn’t sauce in the fridge was a single carrot, the fridge was bigger than an average sized fridge so when it was empty it was even more upsetting. 

“Fine I’ll order Pizza, that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook from washing up.” They both diverted their eyes to the overflowing sink, the plates, bowls and mugs were piled up slowly spreading to the rest of the kitchen. Zoey just smiled. “I thought FRIDAY did the dishes.”

“Friday is an AI you literally need to put the plate into the dishwasher, that’s literally nothing. If you do it now you can watch The Office while we eat.” Zoey didn’t even think, just throwing the plates into the dishwasher a lot less carefully than Tony had intended. “I’m proud of you. Well done.” He ruffled the hair on her head, she just pushed his side and rolled her eyes.

“I need to ask you a question. Promise you won’t attack me when I ask it.” Zoey slowly nodded suddenly very wary of what was coming her way. “Is Peter doing okay at school? I know you hate him and everything but I just don’t want him getting carried away with Spider-Man.” Zoey’s posture slumped a bit, she didn’t hate Peter anymore, she just took a disliking to the boy. They got on now, but she wouldn’t chose to spend her free time with him. 

“I guess he’s fine. I mean Flash is still a dick to him but he always has been I don’t think that will ever change. The only thing that has changed recently is that he falls asleep a bit in class, or gets distracted well in the classes I have with him anyway. But it’s not a worrying amount.” Tony nodded, he loved that Zoey could be serious and not mess around when he needed it, but when she wanted to be herself she could be happy and well immature.

“What about you?” 

“Huh.”

“School? You never talk about any friends, and you always look reluctant to go. I just worry that you aren’t happy there because I can always find you another school that performs at the same level.” Zoey looked somewhat taken back when Tony showed that he cared, not because she doubted for a second that he did in fact care but she knew that he hated showing it. 

“Yeah everything’s good. Why would you think that it wasn’t okay? Do I really look that sad going to school? Because I’m happy there. I have a load of friends I really do. And not just because I live here. I have some real friends too.” 

It reminded Tony too much of when he was a kid, people wanting to be his friend just because of his last name, just because of the fortune that those five letters held. The same was happening to Zoey but in her case it was the fact that she actually knew the avengers; the people her age fanned over. She must have not realised the outcome when she shouted out who she lived with in her drunken state.

“What do you talk to your friends about?”

“They have been asking a lot of questions about the accords. Mainly about Steve because they want to know where he is practically all the time. And they ask a bit about you. Other than that we talk about uh well I dunno really.”

“Are you sure they’re your real friends? Say you got severely injured and was in a coma do you think that they would be by your hospital bed everyday? Because that’s what true friends are. Take Rhodey poor man. He had to deal with me at my worst, he dealt with me at my best. I’ve known him for god knows how long and not once has he asked for a dollar. I made him that leg and he refused to take it, after hours of telling him that if he didn’t have it I’d be wasting money, only then did he take it. See Rhodey is a real friend, doesn’t want me for wealth or because of who I have become, he wanted me when I was low. All I’m saying is do you have a Rhodey.”

“You’re my Rhodey.” The innocent look on her face nearly made Tony cry, she didn’t have real friends and couldn’t get her head properly around the fact that people wanted her for who she knew and the money that he had. That’s why Tony had been practically forcing the friendship of Peter, because even though he hadn’t known Peter for long he knew that he would never take anything or want anything but friendship from Zoey. Because Peter was a good kid.

And Zoey needed a good friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well how do I make a ‘Happy’ chapter kinda hard hitting about fake people. Nvm.


	29. Plans

Quickly the week that Zoey had left of being grounded had passed, but if anything Tony saw her more than he did when she was grounded. Now she chose to spend time with him, and she didn’t really have any real friends to talk to. She slowly edged herself away from her friends after Tony’s worried talk, she realised that if she needed them they wouldn’t be there for her. 

Tony had never seen someone’s behaviour change so rapidly in a month, he thought the whole grounding thing was to show dominance but Zoey was a living case that it was more than that. She was happier now, more content with the life she had. She didn’t shout or scream as much. She didn’t disobey practically every single order he gave her. She was slowly turning into a good kid again. 

Just as Zoey went to shut the door of the car that Happy was driving he quickly said “Please tell that kid to stop phoning and texting me. He’s doing my head in.” 

“He’s just excited, maybe if you replied he might leave you alone for a while.” She grabbed her bag and shut the door, Happy didn’t wave - he never did but she still waved goodbye to him, knowing too well what he would be muttering in the car. 

Zoey often found herself walking around school alone, she was as people described her ‘the popular girl’ but she had no friends. The only nice people in this school were too scared of her because of the reputation she got herself almost two years ago now. 

Her phone buzzed in her pocket it was a text of Tony ‘you’re going to decathlon tonight. No answering back.’ She nearly threw her phone back into her pocket - she did not want to go to the nerd fest at all. Sure she was smart but she didn’t like everyone knowing it, she preferred to be the little gem of knowledge that people didn’t expect.

She sat on her seat in Biology, waiting for the seat next to her ,that was usually filled with a sleeping Peter, to be taken. But almost half the lesson had gone and he still hadn’t turned up, she began to worry. She didn’t know why, she didn’t even like the boy that much, why was she worrying so much? 

Her heart settled when she saw his worried soul walk into the room, he quickly apologised and went to sit down. “Where’ve you been?” He was still dragging his book out of his bag, so when he turned and dropped it, the thud made everyone’s heads turn. “Sorry dropped my bag, just needed some water.” Zoey smiled to the teacher, she could get away with it she always did and Peter was already in the teachers bad books. 

“I-I...” Zoey raises her eyebrows begging him to carry on. His voice quietened a bit “I stayed out too late last night got a slice down my ribs, and I couldn’t wake up because my body worked to fix it overnight.”

“You need to be careful out there, you might get yourself killed. And not just by the criminals, Tony would be furious if he knew. I won’t tell him it’s alright. Also Happy said stop calling and texting him, he’s getting annoyed.” Peter slowly nodded, scribbling information down from Zoey’s book, he didn’t need to but it would help him to divert his attention. 

The day like every other went very slowly for Zoey, she sat at a full table at lunch. Her head in her hands, the girls around her talking about boys and makeup but she just stared at her food wanting to be anywhere but there. She thought of how much she preferred spending time with Tony than these girls who were the definition of materialistic. “What do you think Zoey?” 

“Hm?”

“Well bethany’s cousin Aidan yeah he is having a party, all invited all of us. Practically the whole school is invited, it’s gonna be so good. You can come to mine or we can all go to yours before hand to get ready.”

“Uh yeah sure.” She kept looking forward at what she thought was a wall but then when a small figure was established she started laughing as Peter was waving looking traumatised by Zoey giving him death stares. 

“So we can come to yours?” The table of about fifteen girls looked overly excited about the situation, they couldn’t control themselves all laughing like little school kids and that they were. 

“Sure if you want.” 

“We have never been to your house before. This is going to be so good, can we do pre-drinks? I bet you have loads of alcohol at home. Don’t you. I bet your room is really big...” Zoey shifted her attention back to her food she really didn’t care what these people thought of her life. She nearly punched one of them multiple times for making so many assumption but she just smiled. 

“It’s tomorrow night yeah? Oh my god I’m so excited.” The bell wrung and Zoey threw her now cold food away, she had spent so much time staring at it she forgot to eat it. Her last lessons seemed to go by much faster, she nearly forgot to go to decathlon, walking out of the doors. She saw Happy waiting in the car, dammit Tony was so goddamn efficient. He pointed back to the school, to which Zoey replied with a thumbs up and a snarky smile.

“Let’s ask Daniels then.” As soon as Zoey walked in she wanted to walk back out, the somewhat heated argument going on was now going to involve her. Peter looked at her with hope and flash with a grin “Do you know who Penis is?”

“Yes, of course I do. He’s in practically all of my lessons.”

“See she only knows you from this place, you’re lying. You do not have a Stark internship. You jut want the attent-”

“Oh Peter that reminds me Tony asked if you would help him with something tonight. Think he is picking us both up.” She gave him a smile and he just nodded. Flash glared at Peter “doesn’t prove anything.”

“Only that you were wrong Flash. Only that you were wrong. How does it feel?” He glared at Zoey who didn’t even look back at him. The hour of decathlon passed and it was worse than Zoey had expected, she just sat there daydreaming a lot of the time. She knew they weren’t going to want her if she only answered one question.

Peter nearly ran out of the room “Penis where are you going I thought you were going home with Stark and Daniels.” Flash smiled, Peter slowly turned around. He was faced with a smirking Flash and an angry Zoey, she flicked her head to the side telling him to walk back and leave with her. “I-I Sorry I forgot.” Zoey started shaking her head, he started walking next to her, Flash on the other side. 

“Why are you following us? You still don’t believe me or Peter? Would you like me to call Tony and you can ask him yourself? Because I’m pretty sure you would never live that down.” Zoey pulled her phone out of her pocket waiting for a reply, the only reply she got was Flash walking in the opposite direction.

“You need to stand up off yourself Parker. You can’t let him kick you around in the dirt like that. What would you have done if I didn’t walk in? Just ignored him and taken it, because that’s stupid. No-one should have to put up with him not even you.”

“What’s that meant to mean?”

“I know you’re spider-man and think you can deal with everything, but Spider-Man is different to Peter Parker. Maybe Spider-Man could put Flash in his place but I know damn sure that you won’t.”

“It’s pointless trying to stand up to him, he’s not going to leave me alone. So why should I try.”

“Where is he right now? Not here. Because I told him to leave, so it does work.”

“But you’re you. He respects you. You don’t get what it’s like to not be respected.”

“At my second school I ended up doing half the classes work and never got a thanks. I didn’t do this one kids work and he beat me up, i then got kicked out. So actually Peter I do know what it’s like.” Peter didn’t reply, there was so much that he didn’t know about Zoey, she kept herself to herself and he assumed at even Tony didn’t know everything about her. 

They walked out to see Happy sat in his car, he deadpanned the duo and hit his head on the seat. “Well it’s not exactly Tony.” She smiled to Peter, a small friendship was forming and as much as Zoey resisted it, it was there. She could say she didn’t care but she did, she worried that he wasn’t safe out at night and she worried that Flash was affecting him more than he made out. “It’s okay I need to go to the shop.” Peter walked away, giving Happy a small wave as he walked past the car.

As Zoey got in the car she heard Happy say “Could’ve run him over.” Zoey just threw her show at his head “What was that for?!” She shrugged her shoulders, he threw the shoe back at her. “Master demands some cheeseburgers, do you want anything?” 

“Don’t call him Master sounds... weird.” 

“That’s disgusting! You’re so dirty minded. You make me feel ill. Like physically ill.”

“I never said anything dirty? I’m innocent till proven guilty.” She smiled at him in the rear view mirror. The traffic was atrocious, they barely moved for an hour, Zoey undid her seatbelt and lied across the back seats. What Happy couldn’t See wouldn’t harm him. 

“Yes we will have... Do you want a cheeseburger or not?! Then we will have five cheese burgers, two fries please... Thanks.” The smell of the food made Zoey spring to sit up, but before she could get to the food Happy’s phone wrung. “Should’ve ran him over.”

“Let me answer it! Please! Come on it will be funny! You’re in a really bad mood today, period? Poor little Happy, here have a tampon.”

“ZOEY! You need to learn boundaries, dear god. You’re as bad as your father.” 

“He’s not my father.”

“I know sorry it just slipped out.” The mood instantly changed, Zoey obviously remembering her real father and how he in fact was probably a better one than Tony. Her real dad knew discipline and knew how to cope with her but Tony was only just learning. 

It’s not that Tony was a bad dad he just wasn’t cut out for the wrath that was Zoey so abruptly.


	30. Itsy Bitsy Spider

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m bored of following the content of Homecoming. Therefore we are skipping a bit out. I wanted to include Zoey in main aspects of Homecoming but I feel like they are really developing for Peters character and adding Zoey would be dumb.

“Hey Pete I need your help.” 

It had been a month since the night of homecoming. And a full friendship had formed. Zoey was so scared for Peter’s life when she heard what happened. They were more close than Tony had ever imagined. Slowly Zoey’s friends got annoyed at her for not showing up or just barely talking to them, so one by one they all started ignoring her. She found herself not wanting to go to school - too scared of being alone. She had been alone too long in her life she didn’t want that at school. She started not going to lessons where she sat near them, they just glared and talked about her all the time.

One day Zoey came in late to her biology class, Peter having already wrote a whole page of work. The teacher gave her a detention and scowled at her as she sat down. “What’s up?” She shook her head, she didn’t like talking about her emotions to anyone especially when the teacher was still glaring at her. Peter wrote on his book ‘you can tell me you know.’ She smiled at him, maybe he wasn’t as bad as he seemed.

‘I have no friends. It’s kind of shit walking around by myself all the time.’ She scribbled on her own book then shoving it peters way, still staring at the board. As he read it his heart sunk, she acted happy for so long when it was clear she wasn’t, he could’ve helped. ‘You can sit with me and Ned at lunch?’ A subtle nod was all it took for a solid friendship to be formed.

“Why? Regarding what.”

“Bored.”

“Really that’s it. I’m on patrol and you phone me because you are bored. That’s low.” 

“I’m joking, Friday told me about something that’s happened. Like old times?” 

“You literally came on patrol with me last week, I didn’t think you liked spending time with me. Are you using me Zoey?”

“I mean I wouldn’t be able to do it without your webs so maybe I am? Maybe I like your company you will never know. Anyway meet me at that weird shop you like.” She hung up and suited up, sneaking out at just the right time so that Tony wouldn’t know. Zoey, Tony and Peter were like a small family now, a very dysfunctional family that were a destined disaster. But they all worked together - on Wednesdays when Zoey forced Peter to help them in the lab they barely did any lab work just laughed at each other. See Peter made the atmosphere less sarcastic and more innocent and calm, because Zoey and Tony together meant full level Sarcasm.

Fifteen minutes later both sixteen year olds stood in front of the shop. “What on earth Zoey? You stole one of Tony's cars are you stupid?”

“No, this is my car. I told you about it, I said that Tony was buying me a car and this is it.” Peter stood gazing at the car, he wasn’t very into cars but this one was truly something. Just before Peter could ask what and why they were stood in front of this shop, there was a commotion across the street. Both kids ran to the shop not even thinking before running into the crime scene. 

A bullet flew past Zoey’s head, causing her to quickly see an outcome of this situation. Her power was more useful now, it showed her the worst outcome and the best, so she knew what to do and what not to do. It was like as she slowly got happier her mind did as well and thought on the positive side. “left back.” Peter knew to listen to her, so as he ran to the back of the shop Zoey had to tackle the man on guard. 

It’s like he hadn’t done this before because he was shooting in every direction but at her, only once did a bullet skim her arm. She slid under his arm kicking his knees as she went through, as he plummeted to the ground the gun fired again and she heard a small “ow.” 

“Sorry, you okay?” The small murmur of a yes from Peter was enough for Zoey to carry on without thinking back. If Zoey knew how many criminals this place had she might not have decided to come on this adventure because around every corner there was another ten. “Itsy you good?” But Peter was not good. “I just... maybe could we leave, maybe.” 

“Can you get to the car or at least out of here? Dammit glass windows, okay maybe across the street, or in a shelter. Just cover yourself, tell me when you’re safe.” A good ten minutes past and Zoey was getting tired, it was half eleven at night and she was still trying to protect the city. “ ‘afe.” The mumbling of Peters words made Zoey panick, she quickly found her way out but before she left, made sure she sent an energy wave that should shock them for enough time to get Peter away. The glass windows were creaking with the force but Zoey was running to Peter who had stopped by a bus stop, he was sat on the floor cradling his stomach. 

“Here let me help.” Zoey pulled her sleeved up but Peter just shook his head “my body will fix it.” He was struggling to get up so when Zoey held an arm out he stared at it patiently “go on take it, I’m not standing like a scarecrow for the fun of it.” Their minds both diverted to when Zoey found out about Peter and how much she hated him then, old her wouldn’t believe the stress her current state was under and the reason being Peter. “I don’t mean to rush you but they are most likely going to be released from their unconscious state in a minute and I don’t exactly want them running towards me, with you stumbling next to me.”

“Sorry.” They both picked up the pace but turning round they saw the criminals running out of the shop straight for them. “On second thoughts run!” They both sprinted to the car, Peter lagging behind, due to the gaping whole in his stomach, they jumped into the car. Zoey quickly switched the engine on, to be welcomed with a voice she did not want to hear at this moment. “Look what we have here. Wait? Peter? Zoey, What is going on.”

“Can’t talk, tell you later.” She was already driving as fast as she could for two reasons - the people trying to kill her and Peters injury. She ended up running a bin over “Shit.” There was a gasp from the call that must have still been going on “Zoey Daniels if you so much as scratch that car you are not getting a new one! You hear me.”

“Too late.” The screech of the wheels wrung through both Tony and Zoey’s minds. “Hey Pete, wanna day something, preferably keep your eyes open. Sounds like a plan. FRIDAY end call.” Zoey was speaking as quiet as she could not to alarm Tony about anything that was going on. But Tony didn’t let the AI hang up, “What happened to Parker? Is he okay? Why is he so pale? Why isn’t he speaking? Why are you driving so fast? Slow down missy, you can pay for all these driving tickets.”

“Shut up! Just shut up! I’m doing my best here and you constantly talking is really NOT helping the situation. I will tell you when I get home, there is nothing you can do while we are in this car. Just wait we won’t be long probably about seven minutes.” Tony eventually Hung up, with what Zoey could imagine was an unimpressed scowl on his face. 

“Hey Peter how is it going over there? You good? Say something I don’t really care what just keep talking to me. Be a nerd for all I care. Recite the periodic table or some shit.” 

“H-Hydro-gen. 1. Li- Lith-ium. 3.” He was clearly struggling because you asked un-shot Peter this earlier he would have already recited the transition metals and only had the gases to go. But so far he had only named two. “Great. Amazing I’m proud of you nerd. Keep going.” They only had two minutes to go and Peter could barely keep his eyes open let alone speak. 

As soon as they got back Zoey jumped out of her seat and opened Peters door took his seatbelt off and peeled his hand away from the practically non-existent whole in his side. “Karen? That’s your name right. What’s up with him?” 

“He has lost dangerous amounts of blood I suggest getting him inside to the medical bay as soon as possible.”

“No I was planning on waiting an hour.” She tried to help him walk but his legs just kept giving way. “I swear if anyone at school or in the world saw this you’d be dead.” She picked him up, her enhanced strength really coming in useful. “Hey FRIDAY kind of need you to open the door for me.” But before the AI could reply Tony had the door opened and just took a step back at the sight in front of him.

Zoey with blood all over her hands with Peter in her arms, with a shot wound on his stomach, slowly passing out. “What the fuck Zoey. Take him to the medical Bay now.” She sighed glaring at the stairs she faced, Sure she was much stronger than an average man but oh dear god those stairs and Peter. But he would do it for her. 

As she walked out of the room, having just given Peter to the doctors, she started scrubbing at her hands while walking. “Not so fast. Care to tell me what happened and why you thought it was clever.”

“Nothing bad has ever happened before.” She looked to the floor not wanting to meet the disappointed gaze of Tony. “Before! You’re telling be that you have both gone out before telling me more than once! I think what has happened is the best case scenario. Either of you could have easily gotten killed. What if I wasn’t here or the med team weren’t here? What would you have done then?! Just let him die?!”

“Leave me alone!”

“No! You need to understand that currently and due to evidence that you are responsible for this! Not me! Not Peter! You! He could have died and I’m not saying this to scare you, you just need to understand how serious it is.”

“I know it was serious! I’m not stupid, okay. I didn’t see this happening I thought my mind would tell me but it didn’t. And I know that this is all my fault and I’m sorry for not telling you about everything; I just knew that you would shout at me. I would never want him to die he is my best friend.” Zoey felt tears roll down her cheeks, she didn’t even realise that she was crying until she felt it drip onto her arm. 

She felt a pair of comforting arms around her, Tony quietly muttering “it’s alright kid, it’s gonna be alright, he’s gonna be alright.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 30TH CHAPTER WTF


	31. Here

It was a few days before Peter gained full consciousness again. Tony had to phone May and make an excuse why her nephew was currently wired up to a machine trying to get his blood levels stable again. The only thought he had was that they were in a car crash, hence Zoey was both allowed to drive Peter anywhere anymore. 

Zoey hadn’t slept since that night, the thought constantly circling around her mind that this was all her fault. Because even Tony said so. She could’ve killed her best friend. On the first day that Peter stayed off school, she had to deal with Ned and his worrying mind. 

“Yes, Peter is going to be fine I have said that ten times now. No I didn’t crash my car I just ran into a bin, oh my god Ned I’m trying to concentrate.”

“Do you really have Powers? Because if you do that would be so cool.”

“Who told you?”

“Peter, he didn’t mean to, it just sort of came out when I was talking to him one day. He stressed out about it for months, don’t worry got secret is safe with me. Can you see my future? Am I happy? What job am I going to have?”

“No I can’t see your future I’m not some fortune cookie.” 

When Zoey got home she went straight to the Medbay. If she wasn’t at school she practically lived there with Peter, she didn’t want him to be alone. She didn’t want anyone to be alone. “Oh my god Ned today, how do you put up with him so much. I get that he was worried, but once I confirmed that I had as he called them crazy powers thank you by the way, he did not shut up. He thinks I can tell the future.”

Peter laughed, he was practically back to normal now, his body regained its blood levels and the bullet hole without as much as a scar. Zoey could tell that he wanted to go home, he knew that May would be worrying herself out of her brain; and he didn’t want to stress the poor woman out more than was necessary. But at the same time he had to stay considering he was fighting for his life as much as 4 days ago, suspicions would arise if he was suddenly fine. 

Tony waltzed in that way that he always does, and upon seeing these two kids laughing at each other, smiled a genuine smile. “Hey Parker, you better stay here for another week. Don’t worry you don’t have to stay in here. There is many spare rooms that you can have for a week.” This time the smile on Tony’s face didn’t reach his eyes, those rooms were his teams rooms, his friends, his family. But were they really family for fighting against him? He looked up. No this was his family and as much as they disobeyed him he knew they would never leave him. Never. 

“Thank you Mr Stark. I’m sorry for being an inconvenience.”

“Shut up, you’re no trouble when I’ve had to deal with that for god knows how many years.” He pointed to Zoey who just looked at him with a displeasing look on her face. But he was true. She was an inconvenience to his life, maybe things would have played out differently if she had just died that night on the street. Maybe if she actually put the right number in that phone, everything would be fine now. Everything that happened was her fault. Especially the Accords, if she wasn’t there Tony wouldn’t have freaked out and then the avengers would still be a thing. She ruined his life. 

Peter looked down from his bed to Zoey who was currently breathing heavy and looking to the floor. He then looked to Tony, pleading with his eyes for him to do something. “Zoey, I was joking. You’re not an inconvenience, you’re the best thing to happen to me, my only regret is not taking you home that night seven years ago.”

“So much has happened and it’s all my fault, if you could’ve focused and not had to deal with me and my onslaught of emotions then you would have been fine. Everything would have been fine without me.”

“No. Stop. Look at me.” Zoey’s eyes met Tony’s, he nearly broke at the amount of sadness that was clear in her eyes. “Everything happened because it did. You in no way impacted the outcome that happened. The accords, right? Both Rogers and I are too stubborn to believe anyone else’s views, we always have been. We were bound to clash at one point. And just because you were there didn’t change the reason why we were all there. There was never going to be an agreement and inside we all knew it. So don’t you dare go blaming yourself on all of this. You can take a bit of the credit for Peters situation, but in the end he did say he was fine for too long. But nothing bad has happened because of you in my life okay.” Zoey slowly nodded her eyes meeting the floor again. 

It’s like she couldn’t find a happy medium. She was two extremes. Either sarcastic and intolerant to emotions or too emotional and shy. She just wanted to be happy everyday, not a range of emotions. “Come on I need to show you something.” Tony walked to the door as Zoey waved goodbye to Peter sheepishly, this is the first time he had ever seen her break and she felt weak because of it. But Peter didn’t judge her, he felt sorry for her. In the few months they had become close he came to realise that she put up an act of being happy and okay when really everything wasn’t. But he wasn’t one to judge about that.

“What are you showing me? This is literally your room.” Zoey had followed Tony the whole way in hope of something that might bring joy to the soul crushing moment she had just had. But as she walked into Tony’s room with no changes she had a look of confusion on her face. “I know what you get like when Peter’s there, you don’t tell me everything.” He sat on his bed and patted the space next to him. 

Slowly sitting down Zoey spoke “no look I’m fine.” He raised an eyebrow knowing that fine never meant fine, he had used that phrase one too many times to believe it. “I’m good, okay? There is nothing wrong with me.” The tone of her voice sounded more like she was shouting at her self trying to convince her that she was in fact fine. 

“You can tell me, I won’t think any less of you. I don’t care what it is, I just need to know because if you don’t tell me then I won’t be able to help.” He knew. He always knew, whenever something was wrong he could just sense it. Zoey did a great job of hiding her emotions, too well for Tony’s liking, but he could tell; there was a small glimmer of sadness in her eyes that was unmistakable. 

“I miss them. My family. It’s been seven years and my whole life has been turned upside down. Some days I wish I could just go back and not demand them to get ice cream. It’s not that you’re not a good Dad, you’re amazing, I don’t know how you dealt with it all. But it’s not the same. I just... I want to say goodbye. But I don’t because I wouldn’t be able to let them go. Sometimes I forget. Too happy with my life now, but then I feel guilty and the guilt drags me back down because how could I forget that my whole family died. It’s just hard seeing so many happy families like one I used to be a part of.” Zoey expected herself to cry because that’s all she seemed to do at the moment, but her face was dry. Maybe it was that she had finally come to terms with her emotions. 

“I didn’t even get on with my father but the death of him and my mother hit me hard. I was eight years older than you were and I barely got through it. Turning straight to Alcohol and Drugs like they were the only thing that got me through. And when I tried to stop I remembered, everything. So it started again. The loop continued. And I never came to grip with their death until I talked about it, instead of bottling it up. It took me decades. But you are clever, brighter than I was for sure, you know there is no point mourning when you can’t get them back. Because you can’t. That’s the hard truth that we all have to face. They’re not coming back, when you accept that slowly things get better. Like remembering the more positive memories instead of your last ones. Because even though they’re gone they’re up here.” Tony directed Zoey’s head to rest on his shoulder. “And I’m here if you ever need me, you get upset or worry about something, you need to talk to me. Because we’ve both been through enough to understand that in times of doubt you need someone.”


	32. Crushing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit. Fuck. I thought I was getting better. But my exams were a distraction from the fuck up that is my life. Now they are finished. I just had a mental breakdown sobbing on my bed for twenty minutes. I don’t know what is wrong with me! Anyway here is me escaping from the world by writing this book as a coping mechanism. Yes it’s unhealthy but I can’t change how I cope.

Peter only had one more day of living at the compound and both Tony and Zoey were going to miss his presence. They were going to miss finding footage of him wondering around the kitchen trying to find the water in the middle of the night. They were going to miss how easy it was to jump scare him, usually causing him to drop everything in his hands. But most of all they were going to miss the way he just fitted in. It was like he was always there, the seat he sat at the first time he ate dinner slowly became Peters seat. He had a spot on the couch that was his, it got to the point he had his own mug. 

Maybe it was because Peter was like a ray of sunshine beating down on their dark and dismal lives. He bought a smile to their faces and a laugh to their lips. He made everything okay, and even if he wasn’t trying - just being himself, they didn’t know what they were going to do without him. It had been five days, and they both became attached to the boy. Not seeing his face at the kitchen counter everyday slowly became a worry, because when he wasn’t there they couldn’t protect him. And they were worried that he would get hurt, because everything they love gets hurt. 

Zoey stared at her ceiling, the plain white colours dancing around her eyes, the tiredness was transparent. Peter was leaving tomorrow. Zoey didn’t understand why she was so upset to see him go, because she would see him everyday at school. It took her a while to realise why. A brother. Peter has filled the gap that no adult could fill, the gap of her brother. She was always close with her brother and the death of him hit as hard as anything she had ever experienced. Tony could fill the role of her parents, previously with the help of Steve and Nat. But no-one filled the hole her brother left.

Until Peter came along.

That nerdy boy that she hated. That boy that she would scowl at everyday. That boy she swore at once she found out that he was a hero. That boy who made her happy again. That boy who cared. Because Peter was that boy who could fix her. Because Peter was the boy that cared. 

But he would never know how he had got her through a lot, because she was battling her own mind everyday; and the calming presence that Peter had made the fight take a break. On days she was sad Peter would make her laugh and on days she didn’t understand Peter would listen. Because Peter Parker was Zoey Daniels’ best friend. And she couldn’t live without him 

It was that time of the year when Zoey would lock herself away and not go anywhere, not talk to anyone. Because it was the anniversary of the death of her family, slowly things had gotten better in seven years but it now just left her wondering what life would be like with them still here. She wondered who she would be. Who they would be. Would she be happier? Would she be miserable? Because right now she was more nothing, neutral to say the least. She wasn’t overly happy but she wasn’t majorly sad. But she wanted to be happy.

So she acted happy, because that was easier than being happy. 

She didn’t even realise that the sun had come up until she heard a knock on her door. “Zoey, Peter is leaving now.” The sleep deprived Zoey jumped out of her bed, yanked the door open and flung her arms around the poor boy; he nearly fell over from the impact. Peter was struck with a wave of confusion, it’s not like he was leaving forever. But the way that Zoey hung on for a second longer than necessary made him wonder, why? Maybe impacted by the way that Tony wasn’t mocking him as much today, the way Tony just watched clearly upset. Because Peter meant nothing to anyone. So why did they care?

“Are you okay Zoey?” Peter just looked at the way Zoey’s face had changed overnight. Her facial features were less prominent, the dark circles underneath her eyes were more defined, and her eyes red. She simply nodded knowing not to speak because her emotions were too overpowering at the moment. 

Tony simply watched. He never imagined a friendship so solid to be the outcome of them two, because Zoey despised him just over a year ago. But right now it seemed that Peter was the only thing helping her through life that enjoyed taking a hit at her everyday. It made Tony relax slightly, knowing that he didn’t have to worry that Zoey was alone all the time when he wasn’t there. Because he knew that there would be a day that he wasn’t there, and he didn’t like to admit it but his life was not continuous. It had a date. 

“Mr Stark? Is May picking me up? Or am I walking?”

“I’m taking you. I would say that Zoey could take you but I think May would have a heart attack if she saw that.” Both Tony and Peter walked down the hall, leaving Zoey looking at the floor. This floor had been her home for nearly four years, but sometimes it didn’t feel much like home. Sure it felt like home before, when everyone was here, there was always something happening, someone to talk to. But now it was empty. She missed them. The rest of the team. They made her feel like home, the way that they cared and wanted the best for people, she missed it. But she knew if they were to come back it wouldn’t be the same, tension would be high and it wouldn’t feel like so much like home anymore.

She missed Steve and Natasha the most. When Tony wasn’t himself they would always step in, because they were always there. They both had the ability to make her laugh when she thought that her world was crushing down onto her. And when she broke they picked her up and stuck her back together. They meant more to Zoey than they would ever believe. But they were gone and had been gone for nearly two years. 

See Zoey wasn’t Alone. She had people who cared. But the all people who cared left.

Zoey was unsure as to why she was thrown into this pit of depression so suddenly, she practically always had warning. But one day she was fine and the next she hated her life. But surely she could climb out of the pit, right? Because someone always was at the top to help her, grab her hand. But she couldn’t see the person this time, it was just an empty void. Her stomach flipped and she was soon sat on the floor she had been gazing so intently at. 

That’s when she realised something bad was going to happen. Maybe it’s the crushing weight of loss on her shoulders? Maybe it was the end of her life? She didn’t know. But she knew that her brain was trying to warn her, telling her to be careful. But she couldn’t see the event, it was just a black abyss, there was nothing. But there was pain there was a whole lot of pain. Everyone was experiencing pain, not just her. She wished she could ask questions find out when, what, why? But she couldn’t. 

So she had to live with the fact that something catastrophic was going to happen. And act like everything was okay. 

She practically jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulder, then seeing the face for some strange reason she looked even more scared. “Zo? What happened?” She couldn’t tell him, he would then worry and try to save the day, killing himself in the process, no she would have to keep this to herself.

“I just fell asleep.” 

Tony knew she was lying. 


	33. The sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. I’m just saying this book might turn really dark soon. See my writing reflects my mood. And my mental health has plummeted since last night. I want to scream so I’ll write this book as my way of screaming and trying to better my mind.
> 
> So warning Depression and Disassociation.

Zoey’s mask slowly became harder to distinguish between her real face, the way it smiled, the way it’s face crinkled with laughter; most people would think she was fine. The passers by would assume she was a happy chirpy sixteen year old, how far from the truth they were.

The sun. A radiating force. A light. 

The sun. An unstoppable force. An end to earth. 

The difference was undistinguished, because the sun was the sun. But people viewed the sun differently, people who expected and people who knew. The sun was something that signified joy to many people’s lived but as Zoey looked at the sky and saw the obnoxious ball of dust and gas beating down on her, she was anything but joyous. Because the sun would kill the world. It was unstoppable. No-one could be saved. 

The future that Zoey saw, was unstoppable, no-one could be saved. Everyone experienced a force that had the power to end them, and whether that force did or not was chance, a lucky dip. 

Everyday she saw more images of the future, and with no alternative images she knew what she saw was going to take place. There was nothing she could do to stop it. And she didn’t want to see it, she didn’t want to be alive to experience the end of the world. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t be able to watch. 

Because that’s all Zoey did, watch. She watched her family die. She watched as she got beaten to the ground. She watched her body slowly give up. She watched herself be abused. She watched her second family rip themselves apart. She watched her life fall apart. But all she would ever do is watch.

The night was Zoey’s favourite time of day, no sun in sight. No unstoppable force plummeting towards them. No sun to end the world. Just the stars and the moon. But then the stars could become something more, something destroying, world destroying. But the moon was a glimmer of hope. Shining through the darkness of the sky. But tonight the clouds stopped the moon radiate hope. The clouds had enough, because happiness wasn’t real, just something people wanted to be. Because no-one was really happy. Zoey relied on that to know she wasn’t going insane, inside her somewhere there was stability. 

Her shoes tap against the pavement like she had the power to change everything, make everything okay. But her shoes tapped, they didn’t stomp like the sun, they lightly tapped because her force was weak compared to the unconquerable force of the sun. The street lights flickered, they tried to be the sun but their energy minuscule. Her own energy smaller than the lights, smaller than a candle because her energy was fading, giving up, losing hope. Inside she felt like the sun, angry, angry at the world, angry at everything that had happened. And on the outside she felt like the moon, trying to act positive hope for a better day. But in truth she was the clouds, because she didn’t let anyone see, she covered everything up, because if people didn’t see they wouldn’t worry. 

“Zoey? What are you doing out here?” The red and blue colours bought a new form of light, but the colours were fading, the colours were dissolving, leaving behind a pile of dust and ash. The sun took its hit, and it didn’t miss because the sun never missed. 

“Walking.” 

“It’s three in the morning. How long have you been out here? Do I need to call Mr Stark?” The worried voice was only a distant memory, but it was right there. The moonlight beating on his face, showing that maybe just maybe but soon the cloud came back and all she saw was black. A dark deep colour screaming out for help, but it couldn’t get help. It was alone. She kept walking ignoring the shouts and begs of a distant friend, someone she could save, but it was inevitable. She couldn’t save anyone or anything. Because she was the clouds, condensed water. Neutral. In this situation water couldn’t help, only make the fire worse.

The whirl of an engine and the screech of brakes, maybe she had control? Maybe she could pause the future, stop it from happening. But just beyond the hills she saw a glimmer of the sun, it was getting angry, it was growing impatient, it was as red as fire itself. It was nearly time. “Let’s get you in the car.” A force guided her to the car, it was weak but it wouldn’t give up, it was stronger than most, it was a star not yet the sun but it had potential to change the world. She felt a sharp pain in her arm, like the stab of a piece of metal, ironic who was giving the gesture. She looked at the man, his face half lit by the moon and half lit by the red sun. His mind was balanced, knew the world wasn’t safe but saw that maybe there was hope.

“Can you tell me your name.” The silence in the car was all anyone needed to know. Disassociation. 

Inside she knew her name. But it was hidden deep down and trying to find it was like trying to find an old friend, a stranger you have never met. It was there somewhere but she couldn’t find it, not with the sun coming up. Her eyes felt heavy, but not due to tiredness because she wasn’t tired, she didn’t feel much anymore. She didn’t feel tired. She didn’t feel sad. She didn’t feel happy. She was neutral. 

Tony knew one day she would see something. Something truly terrible, truly traumatic. And eventually he knew she might break. But he didn’t think it would last this long. Zoey said she lost herself before, but this time she really did. She left the house every night once sun had set and returned as it was in the sky. Tony thought a day would come where she couldn’t cope because she barely was. He tried to wrap her in a safety blanket, lock the doors, lock the windows, hide any weapons. But there was no point anymore. She was a body. She wasn’t there. Her eyes were glazed. Her mind constantly in thought. Tony knew her mind would be loud at the moment. He just wished he could help.

The daytime was usually better. Even though her blinds were always shut and the door closed, her room as dark as the night she walked in- Zoey might come back for a minute or two. But even then she wasn’t Tony’s Zoey, she was more of a lost cause, and every time she looked at Tony she shut her eyes. Because she saw. She knew the unavoidable truth. 

“Shall we go home?”

Her voice full of hope but at the same time loss when she replied with “Home?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No-one is gonna read this. This chapter. Because everyone gets bored of my happy self - the writing before. I didn’t even think while writing this that’s scary. But there welcome to my mind, my unstoppable force. My sun.
> 
> :(


	34. Glimmer

Slowly Zoey’s room became a box with a bed, she would take a photo down everyday. No-one knew whether it was because she got upset by them or just didn’t recognise them. Because Zoey Daniels was no longer. There was two outcomes to this, Zoey stayed this way or Zoey came back. And as the days passed everyone lost hope. Everyone being Peter and Tony.

Peter became quiet again, his mind constantly in the fear that he had lost his best friend forever. No matter how much Tony attempted to give home hope, the way Zoey’s blue eyes were cold and empty froze his core. Peter was tired. He didn’t sleep much, too busy staying on patrol in case something happened to Zoey. Because she couldn’t protect herself from her own mind let alone a criminal. Tony shouted at him for being so stupid and ruining his life for her but in the end Tony knew Peter wouldn’t give up.

Tony slowly came to terms with Zoey. It had been happening for a month, ever since that day that Peter left. She started off depressed. Then found herself forgetting how to do simple things. Then one night he found her on a walk at three in the morning just strolling. And when he called her name she didn’t even look. Tony knew what was happening and he just prayed that Zoey was strong enough to fight her way through it. Because Zoey was the only thing that got him through so many years, what would happen if she was gone forever.

She didn’t sleep. Just stared at the blank walls. She figured if she slept then the sun was going to come sooner, she didn’t have much of this life left. And she didn’t want to waste it sleeping. Inside there was someone screaming at her to snap out of it because she knew she was going to lose people, people she would never get back. And she wasn’t even Zoey anymore. She had already lost them. The screaming inside her never subsided. It made her find the roof on multiple occasions, but the moon would comfort her and tell her of hope. 

She sat in front of a man. A man with Gray hair. A man with no beard. A man with green trousers and a black sweater. “Hello.” The man held his hand out but she just looked at it then to the man, what did he want her to do. She could tell what he was, he was a moon. He was full of hope, believed nothing could go wrong. Hell he was a picture perfect moon the way he smiled and spoke, the hope within him radiated joy. But she looked at him again, a pile of ash. He was one of the unlucky ones. But were they unlucky? They didn’t have to deal with loss, not like the survivors.

“You can shake my hand I won’t hurt you.” She didn’t think he would hurt her because a moon would never hurt anyone, but she couldn’t programme her arm to move to make his hand meet hers. Tony watched from the door, resting on the frame, he had slowly started losing hope. And she could tell, before he was half moon and half sun, but now the clouds had taken over. He was losing hope, he was like her, just a mass of condensed water. “How long has she been like this?”

“Just over a month.” The therapist looked taken back at the little emotion in Tony’s voice. He just wanted his kid back, his girl. It killed him to see her so empty, when he would pick her up at night it was like she forgot who he was, forgot what they had gone through together. Like she had forgotten everything, but there was a small glimmer of Zoey left, maybe he was just searching for nothing and it was all an illusion. But he was determined there was a part of Zoey there. Underneath the disassociation and underneath the depression. Zoey was there. He told himself that everyday. Zoey was there. 

“Can you write your name?” A pen and piece of paper was pushed in her direction, she glared at it. What did he expect her to do? The paper was as bright as the stars and the pen as black as the sky. “Draw something then.” Zoey glared again. Both men had lost hope by this point, they had been waiting for her to pick the pen up for fifteen minutes. All Tony could think wasn’t that it was permanent, that she would be like this forever. But just as both men were going to call it a day she picked up the pen. They watched intensely. 

She split the page in half. One side a sun. The other a moon. In the middle stars and a cloud. And on one side with the sun she wrote names of people she loved like ‘Peter.’ ‘Steve’s funny friend’ ‘Wanda.’ ‘Therapist.’ And on the other side with the moon she wrote more names like ‘Steve’ ‘Natasha’ ‘Thor’ ‘Bruce’ ‘Clint’. Tony frowned out of everyone she forgot him, maybe he was being selfish. But then his named was scribbled in the cloud. She put the paper in the middle of the table, and wrote ‘FUTURE!’ Across it 

They wished they understood because it was the first glimmer of hope that they had. The first sight of Zoey. But nothing helped. “What does she think of the sun and the moon?” Tony racked his brain for something. Anything. He couldn’t think. And then it came to him. 

“She hates the sun. She only goes out at night, she walks for hours, she’s better on days when there is clouds and when the nights are clear. That’s it. Sun is bad. Moon is good.” 

She looked at him. He understood. No-one in the world thought like her, to everyone the sun was good. She smiled for the first time in a month. Oh god how he missed her smile. He just started crying. He never cried but his emotions were bottled up for a month now and he finally had hope. He didn’t care that Peter was at school. He phoned him straight away because she was coming back, Peter was just as excited as Tony. Telling him that he will be round after school. But then Tony’s eyes fell on the drawing again.

Sun. Bad. Peter. 

What on earth was going to happen? He started panicking why were these people going to die and the others live? What was he going to do? Was he going to be re-birthed or some shit. He wanted and needed answers. But Zoey wasn’t up to it. She just made an appearance again but as soon as she came she was gone again. Leaving a shell. 

She started imploding. It was less than a month away. The sun. The end of the world as she knew it. She didn’t even have anytime to live like she needed to. She needed to spend her last weeks with the people she loved making memories instead of being this. But she was comfortable like this. But everyone she loved was going to die. And she was just watching their lives end. Even if she couldn’t save them she could be with them. So the little scream in her grew louder and louder.

Tony had to double take. A single tear escaped her eye. Then another then another then another and then sobs. “Oh my...” to most people that reaction to their kid having a breakdown would seem cruel. But she was showing emotion. She was now most definitely there. Clearly alive. Clearly fighting. 

“Zoey?” Her eyes shot up to meet Tony’s a sudden wave of familiarity overcame her. It was Tony. Her Tony. The man who stayed with her no matter how far gone she was, the man who cared about her when everyone else would’ve given up. “T-Tony?” He has to sit down, his tears clouding his vision. “It’s me kid. Fuck I’ve missed you.” His arms were thrown around the girl as she found herself in his chest. “Just talk to me next time. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you. But look what happens when we don’t talk? We lose.”

A small presence was sensed at the door, the therapist looked his way. Zoey’s head slowly turned. “Peter?” Tears flooded his eyes as he nodded, she slowly got up and walked to him, falling into his arms. 

Tony watched.

His family was together. 

But now he knew as well. It wasn’t going to last.


	35. Goodbye

The real Zoey wasn’t back. But they had a version of Zoey. A sadder version. A worried version. A confused version. Tony and Peter longed to hear her laugh or see her smile once more, and she tried, she really tried, but the smile would never meet her eyes and the laugh would never escape her mouth. But at least they had Zoey. They would never take having her around for granted. 

The days got better, but as they did they got shorter. People’s time was coming, half the population’s time. And every time she looked at these people, she would see their face for a minute be able to acknowledge their bright features, but then they would be gone. She knew she could’ve done something but she was just a sixteen year old girl how was she meant to save billions of people, when she couldn’t even save herself from her own mind.

Slowly the weeks left turned into days. Then turned into hours. Tomorrow. The day everyone would lose. The day she had been seeing for nearly two months, it seemed surreal that it was here. Two months. Two whole months she could’ve tried to help. But she just sat and watched the timer tick. She gave people a longer glance as she walked past them, they didn’t know, they were lucky. 

“Zo? Do you wanna watch a film tonight?” Tony stood at her door just watching as she continued to stare at her wall, the slight nod in her head and movement of her legs made him wonder what and why she had to deal with. Because she was just a kid, she knew too much, she had too much stress thrown upon her, he wished he could quiet her mind, tell it to leave her alone. Because how much better she would be without knowing how people she loved would die.

She slowly walked into the living room. The dimmed lights were welcomed by her eyes, not too bright almost like the sun was calming before the storm. She stopped herself. She couldn’t fall down that hole again. She gazed to the sofa seeing Peter texting on his phone and Tony trying to hit it out of his hands. Oh how she wished it could stay like this. 

Because she finally had a family. But she would lose them in a day. She would be alone again.

She needed to be happy, these would probably be her last moments with them, but why couldn’t she be happy. She begged her mind to stop reminding her so she could enjoy the last few hours with the people she loved. But it kept shouting at her, telling her things she had heard for months. Telling her things she didn’t want to know, she didn’t want to know that she would lose everyone she had. She just wanted to keep them safe in a little bubble where they didn’t go to space. But she knew that they were both stubborn and determined. 

She sat down on the couch, head in hands as she screamed into them. She just wanted her mind to be quiet. It was a constant battle she was having. And they would never leave, the thoughts. She had enough, sometimes it seemed like dying was the only was to be okay, but it wasn’t because she would leave behind a fractured world. There was no way to win. She felt an arm around her shoulders pulling her closer.

Tony had gotten used to this, the way she screamed at her mind to be quiet everyday. But Peter hadn’t, he hated seeing his best friend this way, broken and scared. He wished he could just make it all go away, so she could be happy again. Like she was when their friendship grew, laughing constantly and a smile constantly painted upon her face. He missed that Zoey, but at least she was back. 

“ ‘m sorry.” She whispered into her hands, she was a burden, she could’ve saved them, there was so much to apologise for. And Tony understood that she wasn’t apologising for crying, being this kid; he knew there was something else, something Peter and Tony couldn’t see. “It’s alright.” 

They watched a film. Well Tony and Peter watched, Zoey just stared. The inevitable was constantly on her mind, she couldn’t watch such a light hearted film. So she made the impression of watching while in truth she watched the world fall apart, for the fifteenth time. Soon the film was over and Peter had a trip tomorrow so Tony had to take him home right away. 

This was it.

This was the last time she would see his curly brown hair, the last time his warm eyes could calm her down. This was the last time she would see her best friend. She couldn’t bring herself to say goodbye, she hated goodbyes especially when she knew there would be no hello. But she had to otherwise, she would hate herself forever. She hugged him goodbye. 

Peter had a worried expression on his face when the hug lasted longer, much longer, than usual. He looked at Tony confused hoping he would know but he didn’t, he shrugged his shoulders. The tears that escaped Zoey’s eyes made him all the more nervous, something was going to happen to her. Was this the last time he would see her? He hugged her again. But then he thought.

What if it was him?

But it wouldn’t be him, he was dropping by after the trip tomorrow and he wasn’t going far. It wasn’t even dangerous in any way. There was no way anything was going to happen to him tomorrow, it made no sense. But the look in Zoey’s eyes made him believe that one of them were going to lose.

She cried as she saw her best friend leave her house for the last time. She cried as the car drove away, because he was gone now. And he was never coming back. 

She wasn’t going on the trip, she hadn’t been to school in a month and a half, Tony worried she might break there and he wouldn’t be around to help. Worried she might say something she would regret. And when she disassociated he knew she wouldn’t even be able to navigate her way around. But right now she wished she had gone to school. All those hours she missed with Peter. Because they were gone and so was he.

As Tony got back he found Zoey asleep on the couch, she looked so peaceful and calm. But inside her mind was anything but. He placed a blanket over her, stroking her hair out of her face. He went to bed. Thinking about the interaction between Zoey and Peter, thinking about that picture she drew, thinking about what was happening. 

He thought he knew. But he would never know. Only Zoey knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Infinity War next chapter are we excited! No.


	36. Eclipse

When Zoey woke she was surprisingly calm for the end of the world. But she knew now that there was nothing she could do. These people would die, she couldn’t save them. She couldn’t fight against the force of the sun because she was a candle, an unstable energy, she might make the world dark for a flicker of time she might make it better. But the sun was always there radiating is energy onto the world. 

“I’m going to the park with pepper. It’s such a nice day don’t you think? The sun is so bright.” Of course the sun was bright it’s day had finally come, it had been waiting for months. It beamed down on these innocent people, with hate in its soul. No. Stop. The sun is good. We couldn’t live without it. The sun won’t end us. The sun isn’t bad. 

“Yeah, it’s a nice day.” She smiled or at least tried to. And here was the last time she would see Tony, or so she assumed. In her mind everyone either turned to dust or lived, everyone except Tony. She didn’t know why. She should be happy because maybe he might not die, but that sun was beating down at him daring him to challenge it. No. The sun wasn’t bad. Stop. The sun is good.

But she knew that even if Tony didn’t die he would be stuck in space. Because that’s where he was going and that’s where Peter was going. And even if he lived there was no way back. He would have to live a life alone without Peter, without Zoey, without Pepper, without his family. So maybe it would be better if he died. No suffering. But the way he looked out the window right now so full of life, the glares of the sun lighting up his face; she didn’t want him to leave, because he might be the only one she could save. “P-Please...don’t...go.”

He sat down beside her, with her head on his shoulder, he tried to comfort her. She would miss the way he always comforted her, make everything alright for a moment. Memories flashed through her mind, not all happy, because not all memories were happy. But the happy ones lasted, the time he became ten due to the drugs Clint gave him, the time she fell down the stairs and he ended up falling to the floor in laughter, the times they watched a film and he tried to cover his tears, the time she knew she was safe with him, the times he saved her, the times he cared, the times he was the best dad she could ever have. She knew there would be a day he wasn’t there to save her from her mind but she didn’t want that to be today. She wanted them both to stay here. Stay together. Stay alive.

“Pepper will kill be if I’m late you know what the lady is like.” But Zoey didn’t, she never truly met her, Zoey stayed at the compound the whole time. She never met the love of Tony’s life, because she was scared. Pepper might hate her. Then Tony would hate her. Zoey slowed her mind, that was all in the past. Before Tony left the door he paused, fiddling with his wrist. Because Tony knew. Something was going to happen. He gave the watch to Zoey. To many it wouldn’t seem special but he got it the same day he found that weak little nine year old amongst fire and body’s; that weak little nine year old who was now a strong sixteen year old who was looking into his eyes for hope. 

“Can you keep this safe for me?” He handed the watch to her, she looked at it and held it delicately in her hands, slowly nodding. He knew. He was clever. He slowly hugged her goodbye both holding on for longer than necessary. She didn’t want to lose anyone else, she let everyone and now she was going to lose him. The hug quickly ended and just as he was leaving he turned around and quietly said “be good.” The door clicked shut. 

Never had two words sounded so different. Before it was a nod to the tough times that they had gone through but now it was a goodbye, like have a good life without me, take care of yourself, don’t worry about me, be the best you. She sat on the sofa. Alone. She was alone again. She had no-one. 

She lost too much in her life to lose again. But she lost again and again. She wanted the suffering to end. But the watch she held in her hand told her she would never be alone. There was hope. There could be the moon and the sun and stars and clouds, there was a possibility it could all fall perfectly into place. The orbit finally coming together instead of not facing the inevitable. And eclipse. So instead of giving up, Zoey hoped, she hoped for an eclipse.

Zoey watched along with the rest of the world, she watched the live news and suddenly the hope of an eclipse vanished. She saw Tony on the screen, it wasn’t real, this wasn’t real, he wasn’t really fighting a losing battle, people edited this. She then saw Peter swinging, trying to help, while she sat helpless. Her father figure. Her brother figure. Completely under manned. She saw the ship she saw, Peter web to it. She saw Tony fly to it. No eclipse. Not today. The moon and Sun still fighting, neither giving up. 

There was a knock at the door. She opened it, praying the news was a joke, something someone thought would be funny. She prayed that it was Peter and Tony at the door perfectly alive, but it wasn’t. 

The worried faces of Rhodey and Bruce told Zoey all she needed to know. This was the end. There was no way out of it. They were stuck in orbit. 


	37. Give up

As soon as Bruce and Rhodey entered the building, Zoey left to be alone. Not even sparking a conversation, these men were the moon, hope still prevailed in their eyes, they would try to fight. They had hope. Unlike Zoey. Still cluster of clouds. The walls of her room were alone, bare, stripped to the core. People would walk in and assume no-one lived in this room. But this was Zoey’s room and the small crack in the window was the only indicator of that.

She just sat on her bed. Empty. Alone. Her mind screaming but her body unresponsive. Her body gave up trying to reason with her mind, it just couldn’t be bothered to listen anymore. One thing carried through every part of her - that this was her fault. She knew she wouldn’t make it through her life without everyone she had lost. 

She heard a voice. She knew that voice. But it was darker, hopeless but full of hope. There was only one man that voice belonged to, and she had waited two years to hear it. But now she heard it she didn’t have the energy to get up, the flame of her candle out. But then she heard another voice. And another. And another. Maybe just maybe she wasn’t alone, maybe there was people to help. Maybe she could save others even if she couldn’t save her family. 

She stared at her feet begging them to work, she needed reassurance she was there, maybe there was hope, maybe an eclipse would happen. Slowly one foot was placed in front of the other. 

The second she saw everyone she nearly cried, but she was stronger now. Sure she was stronger. At first they didn’t notice her presence, she just watched, she thought they would never come back. “Isn’t that Stark’s kid.” Sam grabbed everyone else’s attention they all looked. And as bright as day Zoey was stood there, she looked as different as they did. All nearly unrecognisable to each other but they all knew. 

“Zoey? Come here kid.” Natasha’s held her arms open, Zoey now taller than her she regretting missing two years of her life. “I missed you so much, I was so worried about what you would get yourself into, because you don’t like playing by the rules do you?” If only she knew what Zoey had gone through, what she had seen, what she had to do. 

“I-I thought y-you were never... coming back.” Everyone taken back by the way Zoey’s voice was weak in comparison to before when her confidence radiated the room, her presence was always acknowledged. But now she seemed like the kid who would sit in the corner trying to hide from reality. “We were always coming back.” Steve hugged her, she felt safe again. 

She wasn’t alone. She wasn’t alone. But she was. She was alone. She was so very alone. Tony and Peter were alone, in space. With no idea what to do. But everyone else had something else to do, they couldn’t worry about anything like that. Steve, Natasha, Sam, Wanda, Rhodey, Bruce and Vision had a world to save, a population to save. 

“Can I help?”

“No, we don’t want to risk you getting hurt. Tony would-”

“Well Tony’s not here is he! He doesn’t have anything to get angry about! Because he’s gonna be up there, forever! I need to help. I can’t stay here by myself I’m scared of being alone.” All of the adults knew they should’ve said no, but in truth they didn’t want her to be alone, she was unstable they didn’t know what she would do. The worst thing imaginable all came up in their minds. So they agreed. 

Tony was no staring Peter in the eyes. They were in the middle of space, this was not were Peter was meant to be. Peter was meant to be on a field trip not on a space ship flying to their death, or at home with May. Just anywhere not here. His mind shifted to Zoey, the poor girl was alone. He prayed that Pepper might catch on, and go and check on her. Make sure she didn't do anything stupid like start fighting. Because oh god if she did and they both lived he would kill her. 

///&/// 

“Zoey you hear me. Are you even listening? You stay here with Shuri. Do not I repeat do not leave this building. That out there is the end, and I don’t know if it’s the end of this fight or the end of everything. So please stay here.” She nodded, she respected and obeyed Steve. So she would just sit here watch Shuri attempt to help save the world. She liked Shuri, she was someone she could imagine herself becoming friends.

“Am I doing something wrong? Is there something you think I should do?” 

“It’s just at this rate it’s not going to be finished, so if you move that there, gimme that, then move that there turn that up. There.” Shuri looked at Zoey, thinking how on earth she knew how to do all of that because this sort of technology was not available in other areas of the world. “How?” Zoey just patted her head and walked to the window, watching the destruction take place.

Her eyes met the sky, she hoped to god that they were okay. That they would make it back down, that they could be a family again because she couldn’t imagine a life without them. “They’re opening the gates, it’s gonna go downhill from here. This is the end.” Everything was happening too fast, she looked one way and she would miss something, she just needed to know if her mind was right. She needed to know if all these people died. Because there was still a moonbeam shone on her, a small minuscule moonbeam but it was there and oh dear god did she hop and pray that her mind was wrong. 

Imminently things begun to shake, a shout from down the hall. Shuri didn’t even ponder just turned everything off, grabbing a weapon on the way out. “Stay here!” She shouted as she leaved, Zoey obeyed. For a second deciding it was useless her stood here while these people were fighting for their lives. So she disobeyed people again, no wonder nobody trusted her because why should they, she always broke the trust. Always. 

“Zoey! Your right! Jesus kid are you on a suicide mission?! Get back inside!” Steve was fighting a creature off while shouting at this stubborn kid, his mind diverted to the time when they were in New York and Zoey stood in front of him refusing to move. An eleven year old risking her life for all he knew no reason. And now a seventeen year old stood in front of him begging for him to let her help. “It’s no safer in there! They’re all in there now, you can’t protect me forever! There will be a day I will have to learn from being stupid and making mistakes.” Just as he was going to retaliate that he could protect her, she was fighting of a group of these creatures. 

He forgot how well she could fight. He forgot how she was the smartest kid he’d met. 

Natasha caught Steve’s eye, “Zoey! What are you doing here!” Steve shook his head, they weren’t going to win this argument against Zoey, because she was just as stubborn and determined as Tony. And he knew that no force could reckon with her when her mind was set on something. 

The fight seemed to never end. There was always something lurking around the corner. But Zoey wasn’t even focused on the fight, she knew she should’ve been, but her mind drifted to Tony and Peter again. She needed to stop. Stop thinking about it. Because she didn’t have the power to worry anymore. The small energy from her candle was filtered directly into the fight.

She didn’t have the ear piece like everyone else, she was in silence. She just followed, hoping everything would make sense. “What the fuck.” She glared at the unbeatable force in front of her. The sun. There was the sun. She had seen this for two months, two whole months. And he he was. The sun. The end. The inevitable. 

She tried as hard as everyone else, she didn’t want what she saw to come true. She used all her force to try and stop him, but all she got was a stumble. He looked at her “Stark’s kid. The one who knew this was happening. So why little one, why did you not change it.” Zoey picked herself up from the floor, glaring into his eyes. 

“Because then I would get to do this.” A blue force struck the Titan off his feet, she stood watching. Everyone else watched in admiration, because hell was this kid stronger than anyone assumed. “You will regret that.” She nodded because she knew she would. She knew that was the end. But she wanted it to end with a fight.

Because Zoey Daniels didn’t give up.


	38. Punctured Sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DON’T KNOW WHY I WROTE THIS!

No-one spoke as they watched the seventeen year olds body get hurled into the cliff. No-one dared check if she was alive, because they could tell from here that her chest wasn’t moving. There was a fight going on, there was a fallen warrior but they had to carry on; not letting their eyes find her lifeless body. 

“You should’ve gone for the head.” And in an instant the world changed. Forever. Everyone lost. Everyone confused. Everyone broken. People called out for help and they felt their body become far too light. The survivors just watched as their loved ones faded away, gone. Now they were all alone. They had no-one. 

Their eyes stuck to the ground. “H-half of the population.” Steve murmured but to him it seemed like Thanos took everything from him, he was so lost and confused he no longer knew what he was doing and where he was going. But he soon found himself leaning beside the body of a girl who shouldn't have fought. Why the hell did he bring her along?! She could be at home right now very much alive. But she was gone. She looked peaceful, happy almost. 

“She’s alive you know. I know that kid and she wouldn’t dare die being thrown against a rock. Look she still has that nervous tick, she’s still here Steve. We didn't lose her.” Steve looked down and Natasha was true, her little finger was tapping the ground in an irregular rhythm. 

Everything else that happened left Steve’s mind because there was someone he could safe and even if he could’ve save anyone else knowing that someone lived might help. Because Zoey still had a chance. He found himself shouting for Bruce, shouting for help, shouting for anyone. This kid would see another day, she had to. Because she was Zoey Daniels, and Zoey Daniels never gave up.

But the colour draining from her face and the more infrequent finger taps told him that even though she was fighting she was losing. For a moment he could’ve sworn he saw her eyes flutter open, but he looked again and they were shut. He picked her up, there was no use her laying there waiting for her life to end. 

“Steve Stop. Just look at her, she is losing. She’s nearly lost. She won’t make it back home. I know that’s hard to comprehend right now, but she won’t ever see New York again. I’d be surprised if she even made it to the Atlantic.” He glared at Bruce. How dare he speak of such little hope, he barely knew this girl. He didn’t know what she had been through, what she survived and she sure as hell wasn't going to die in his arms. 

Zoey was placed on the table, her posture becoming more relaxed by the minute. Steve didn’t take his eyes off her. Her arm fell of where it was resting on the table, Steve placed it on her chest. He didn’t want it to hurt when she woke up. Everyone watched as Steve so full of hope was staring at a lifeless body. She had died five minutes ago. Her chest no longer rose and no air escaped her lips. The movement of her finger stopped. She was dead and there was nothing they could do.

A small blue light was visible underneath Zoey’s palm. The light grew brighter, making everyone’s head turn. Their minds shifted. Her hand in the middle of her chest letting out a blue light looked like Tony’s arc reactor, the same colour the same place. Everyone surrounded the table, watching as slowly the colour flooded back in to the girls skin. Her finger begun to tap against her chest. And ever so slowly her chest rose.

The harsh intake of air and sharp opening of her eyes put the survivors on edge. The way she tried to sit up in shock but the pain to her left side too strong that even she couldn’t defeat it. Steve pushed her shoulders back down on the table, he knew what she was like when she begun to panic. “You’re okay. It’s all okay.” But it wasn’t. 

Not even five minutes later she begun to cough, with each cough becoming raspier and louder. Everyone tried to help. Her eyes started getting more tired, falling lower. Her breath started becoming shorter again in between the coughs. “What the hell?” 

“I think she has a punctured lung.” Bruce just stared. Everyone just stared, she was fine five minutes ago, sure she was just dead but she was breathing fine. It didn’t make any sense. It’s like they were all paused just watching her drown in her own blood. 

“What are we meant to do? We are 35 thousand feet in the air! She’s going to die. We could’ve saved her.” Zoey was getting worse by the second and right now she was choking on the air, eyes nearly closing. No-one replied to Steve because there was no way to save her. “Hey kid, can you keep your eyes open for me? Yeah like that just keep looking around. You’re doing good, you’re doing amazing. It’s gonna be alright.”

“I-It...h-hu-hurts.” 

“I know.” His gaze shifted from the dying kid whose hand he was gripping tightly because she wasn’t going to give up as long as he was taking care of her. He glared at Bruce, probably the only man who could help in this situation. But he was jut staring. Steve mouthed “help!” At him and he was suddenly rummaging through a first aid kit to try to help. 

“I-I’m... t-ti-tired.” Zoey eyes were held closed far too long for Steve’s liking so he grabbed her hand and wouldn’t be surprised if he broke it, he needed to distract her. Her eyes snapped open then shut again then opened again. Slowly her coughs became muffled and before anyone knew it there was blood bubbling in her mouth. This was the end. And suddenly everyone went into a panic. But Steve sat next to her the whole time, he was there telling her it was all okay. 

Her body now going a light shade of blue, her body had gone far too long without oxygen to survive. Natasha always the one who seemed to understand just grabbed both of Zoey’s hands and placed them on either lung. 

“I-I’m ... G-gonna ... sleep.” 

“No! Zoey look at me everything is going to be better but if you dare close your eyes on me, we can’t help. We can’t lose you, Zoey! Not you as well.” She went to reply but just started choking on her own blood. Natasha now digging Zoey’s hands into her lungs was just hoping her powers were still in tact. A spark. That’s all she got. A flicker of a light. 

Zoey’s eyes closed. The world went black. 

“Zoey! Zoey! Zoey! Open your eyes goddammit kid! Open your eyes! You can’t die! Not today! Please.” Steve sat down as Natasha pulled him away from the dead girls body. He couldn’t take his eyed off her, the way she looked so alive not so long ago, the way he still had hope. And now there was nothing. Just a dark void. 

“Steve look at me. You did all you could, you tried so hard but she was already dying when you went over to her.” Natasha tried to focus his vision on her instead of Zoey’s lifeless body. But she was unsuccessful, his self guilt already prominent.

“What am I going to tell Stark? How do you tell a man his kids dead, and you were there in her last moments but didn’t save her? How do you tell someone that?!” His head in his hands, he was silent now. His mind too busy to talk. 

“W-we don’t even know if he survived.”

“How is that meant to make me feel any better!” He picked himself up and walked to the far side of the jet away from everyone. Away from the guilt of Zoey.

Zoey Daniels fought. Zoey Daniels tried. Zoey Daniels hoped. But Zoey Daniels was no more. Simply a memory. A memory of a broken, unfair, cruel life. Because Zoey Daniels had died and this time Tony Stark wasn’t there to save her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t actually plan for here to die. But here we are. That’s a problem. The main characters dead. Dammit.


	39. Simple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ENDGAME SPOILERS!

Steve paused as his mirror begun to shake. He had not yet come to terms with anything that had happened, acting like it was all some sick dream and he would wake up any minute now. But he knew he was just trying to trick himself. Because it all happened. Every single second.

The team who was left walked to see what was happening and when they saw a ship being carried to the ground they had to blink. Twice. The door opened and Steve nearly threw up. He had just accepted that Tony had died, he wouldn’t have to tell him about Zoey. But Tony stood there. Alive. Barely but still alive.

“I couldn’t stop him.” The way Tony stood so weak was enough to worry everyone, the way he could barely hold himself without the stability of Steve on his side. “Neither could I.” They both stared. Realising their failures. Because they had failed. The world relied on them and they broke its trust, they failed everyone.

“I lost the kid.” Tony’s mind just replayed Peters last words, he was in pain, he was scared, he was lost and Tony couldn’t save him. Tony couldn’t make everything better. He was helpless to the dying teenager, Tony Stark failed. His mind diverted to another kid. But he didn’t want to know anymore. He didn’t want to know if she died. He wouldn’t be able to deal with it. 

“Tony, we lost.” Steve wanted to shout that he lost the kid as well. But he couldn’t Tony already looked like he might collapse at any moment, he didn’t need Steve adding to the guilt. Pepper came around to greet Tony, and the relief in his face was clear. Steve wished that Zoey could just walk across the grass full of life but he was foolish because the kid was dead. Because of him.

Tony didn’t ask about Zoey. He assumed that she would be somewhere else maybe in a far part of the building where she didn’t hear the colossal ship landing on the grass. He was fooling himself. He knew if Zoey was here she would be making sure he was okay and probably having a little panic attack over the fact that he was alive. The argument with Steve simply reminded him how things used to be.

Now sat on a hospital bed wired up to tubes, with Rhodey on his side he spoke. He needed to know now “Z-Zoey?” Rhodey just looked at him and that’s all he needed to know. He lost both of his kids. “Oh god.” He lost her. He should’ve listened, stayed at home where he could’ve protected her. But now she was dead. She died surrounded by people that weren’t family. She died without him and he would never forgive himself.

“H-how?” Rhodey shook his head, it was a gruesome death Tony didn’t need to hear about considering his state. “Tell me! Don’t lie to me either! Tell me exactly how my daughter died!” 

“She punctured her lung. She came with us to fight, she didn’t want to be alone here. We told her to stay in safety, we ordered her to not move. But she did. She came onto the battlefield. She nearly lived. But she stood up to him. Thanos, said something about you. She got him to the floor, but he just got up. Picked her up, threw her against the rock like a rag doll. She didn’t stop trying to live. Steve didn’t give up on her. She woke up when we were in the jet. And everything was fine. Ten minutes later she was coughing up blood, her breath rapid, she was tired. Everyone tried. Romanoff got something a spark. But then her eyes closed. We tried our hardest. We bought her back, tried to help her with the tech but her brain had gone too long without oxygen.”

Tony couldn’t breathe. She was really dead. Never coming back. He would never see that smile, or hear that laugh, never see her cry. She shouldn’t have died, she was too broken to die. He didn’t reply just stared at the ceiling. He lost Peter. He lost Zoey. He lost everything. 

FIVE YEARS LATER.

Tony sat in his lab. The photos all facing the tables. Today was an off day. Today thirteen years ago he got a call from a nine year old, expecting her grandmother. Thirteen years he could’ve spent with Zoey. But in reality he probably only spent five years with her. Dear god did he miss her. 

“What you doing.” But he had a new kid, another little kid to worry about, another little kid to lose hair over. Every time he looked at Morgan he saw Peter and Zoey, every time she spoke he thought of them. “Thinking.”

“About what? Zo and Pete?” Tony didn’t want her to not know about her nonexistent siblings, because if they were here the kid would be constantly with them. He talked about them, not about the sad things, not about how they died, but about how they lived. They way they were best friends, they would’ve done anything for each other. He talked about how Zoey was the best person to talk to when you felt sad and how Peter always managed to take notice of everything change in emotion. He talked about how they couldn’t live without each other. He talked about how they would always end up in trouble somehow, because neither liked playing by the rules.

“Yeah, I miss them sometimes. They were good kids, didn’t deserve what happened. But I think they’re happy. They’re together and I bet they are making chaos up there.”

“Why don’t you get them back. Tell them to come back down.” Tony envied the simplicity of life to Morgan because she saw positives where Tony saw negatives. She saw hope where Tony saw darkness.

She was a moon and Tony was a sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m going to create another book where Zoey lives. And her life carried on post infinity war. Because I kinda had plans for her to live as well as die. I think I’m doing one more chapter omfg. Wtf.


	40. Union

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not ready to say goodbye to this book. Sounds stupid I know. But I’ve been writing it while going through some of the hardest times of my life so far. It’s the only thing that kept me sane, I don’t know what I would’ve turned to if I couldn’t express my emotions through this book. Fuck I sound like a right old soppy shit don’t I? Thank you I guess. It’s been a blast.

He didn’t know why he decided to go along with all of this. Was it guilt? Probably. Was it loss? Defiantly. Was it the possibility of getting someone back? Certainly. But here he was fighting Thanos again. He had a newly established family. He had a reason to live. It was just like last time. It was just like last time. 

He wanted to go back to 2018. Save Zoey just find away, but they had limited time, limited equipment. She was gone. No-one could save her, she wouldn’t come back with the snap. Because she didn’t die from the snap, she died from injury. But as the people who died five years ago came through portals he assumed no expected Zoey to walk through, throwing a sarcastic comment or laughing with Peter. But he was stupid, stupid to think he’d ever get her back. His kid. 

But there was one who should be webbing through the portal right now, and sure as hell he stood right in front of him. “Hey! Holy cow. You will not believe what's been going on. Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty? I must've passed out, 'cause I woke up, and you were gone.But Doctor Strange was there, right? He was like, "It's been five years. Come on, they need us!" And then he started doing the yellow sparkly thing that he does all the time...” 

Tony didn’t know what to do. He didn’t even think this was real, this couldn’t be real. Peter was alive and talking at his usual rate on a thousand words a minute. He threw his arms around him. He lost one but still had one. He had Peter. Peter was okay. Peter was okay. He didn’t let Peter see the tears fall from his eyes. He didn't want Peter to worry. “Where’s Zoey? Is she at home?” Tony knew it was coming but he still wasn’t prepared.

“No, I’m sorry, she didn’t make it. She died. Five years ago.” Peter held back sobs and just nodded. He just came into this world and he had already lost. He couldn’t cry he had to save everyone, he had to save everyone for Zoey, because Zoey’s would’ve done the same. Even though his best friend had died he had to keep fighting, because if she was here she would just laugh at him if he sat on the rock and cried like he wanted to. 

They were both tired. Peter and Tony. They didn’t think it would last this long. They didn’t think that it would be so emotionally and physically draining to fight for the world. Peter knew something was happening, because whatever entered the atmosphere looked to him like the end of the world. He wished Zoey was here to tell him what was going to happen, how this was going to play out.

Slowly people stared disintegrating around him. Here we go again he thought, he would be last again. He couldn’t deal with it another time. But he looked around. Only the bad people were going. That’s when he looked over the fallen rock, Tony stumbling to rest. He looked weak. And Peter had never seen him weak. 

“Mr. Stark?Hey... Mr. Stark? Can you hear me? It's Peter. We won. Mr. Stark.... We won, Mr. Stark. We won and you did it, sir. You did it.” There was no response, no eye movement, nothing. He was gone. Peter lost. He lost his best friend and his father figure in one night. He felt arms pulling him back, but he fought them. Tony couldn’t die. He was Tony Stark he couldn’t die. He was strong. He was the bravest man Peter had met, he could’ve just die. He couldn’t die! So why was he dying?

“I’m sorry... Tony.”

That damned kid wouldn’t stop apologising for nothing he did, he would be shot and still apologise. The next thing Tony heard was Pepper he even saw her a bit. He tried to speak but his voice gave up. Too quiet. “Hey pep.”

“You can rest now.” And he would. He would rest. But right now in his last moments he would worry. Because Tony Stark worried about what his life could have been, who he could’ve been, what he could've done. His last thoughts were worry’s of the people he had left behind, the people he loved. Then to Zoey, how she managed to tell him how great he was. How no matter what he would always be the best. 

If he had a next time he would make it all better. Make sure he did everything right, not wasting all the years like before. But he didn’t have a next time, his life couldn’t be erased and drawn again. Because these were Tony Stark’s Last thoughts. The last time the brain of the genius worked wondered what more could he have done? 

But he did all he could. That was enough for everyone. He sacrificed himself for the world. Tony Stark was a good man, through years of being looked down upon for his life style choices; he died a good man. He died a friend. He died a father. He died a hero. 

ONE YEAR LATER

Peter held Morgan’s hand tight, not for her, for him; he lost and he remembered. The grass underneath his feet still damp from the morning dew, the sun beating down. Peter turned to Morgan, who just looked up at him with a small tear in her eyes, to many it would seem invisible but he knew. Her eyes begged for her to let the tears out, but Morgan had to be strong for her dad, she didn’t want to upset him. “It’s alright Morgan, we all get upset, there is nothing wrong with crying.” Peter crouched down to be eye level with the five year old.

The barriers opened as she found her way in Peters chest, it was hard for her to understand what was happening. The first few months she screamed and cried every night because her dad wasn’t wishing her goodnight. She cried when he didn’t read her a story. And Peter was there by her side, calming her down, because he had to go through something similar, he knew how confusing it was. 

“Are you going to put the flowers down?” Morgan nodded wiping her eyes, carefully treading to the stone and delicately laying the flowers down on her fathers grave as Peter did the same to the grave of his best friend that lie right next to Tony’s. They both murmured “I miss you.” Because the world wasn’t the same without Zoey or Tony, it seemed too light. The world moved on too fast. 

Here in that moment two kids who lost, stared at the lives of two people who lost. Morgan Stark, a happy kid who lost someone too early, a kid that would never get to properly appreciate the greatness of her father. Peter Parker, a kid who lost his parents too young, lost his uncle, then life looked up; but he lost again, he lost his best friend, he lost another father figure, a kid who now worried to love because everyone he loved died.

Tony Stark. A man who turned his life around. A man who no matter of the stereotype he found himself in made himself a better man. A man who saved billions. A true genius. A man who had a family. A man who lost a family. A man who survived with guilt for five years. But nonetheless Tony Stark was a selfless man who wouldn’t give up on anyone.

Zoey Daniels. A kid who lost too much. A kid who dealt with the hurdles life threw at her. A kid who battled with her brain each day, never understanding how to reach content. A kid who found a home. A kid who found a father when she had no-one. A kid who would never give up no matter how cruel life was to her. 

Tony Stark and Zoey Daniels, the story of survival. The story of life. Because even when life threw them down they got back up. The story of how no matter what you’ll find a way, there’s always another way. 

Because the fight is never over until the sun and the moon are in union. The fight is never over until the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank you all for reading this. And if you all do not want for this to be the real end I am going to write an alternative ending that goes back to infinity war. Thank you again. 
> 
> And I’m out.


End file.
